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The Libyan-Tunisian Joint Ministerial meeting was held in Tunis yesterday, in the presence of the Libyan Minister of Economy and Trade, Mohamed Al-Hwej, and the Tunisian Minister of Trade and Export Development, Kulthum Ben Rajab, and in the presence of several officials in the two countries.
The meeting was to launch the sub-Saharan African Trade Corridor initiative between Tunisia and Libya and sign several MoUs.
Speaking exclusively to Libya Herald, the spokesman for the Ministry of Economy and Trade, Fawzi Wadi, said that the two sides stressed in the first place the importance and necessity of rehabilitating and developing the Ras Jedir border crossing in accordance with international standards so that it becomes a commercial gateway to Africa and a means to achieve economic integration, especially with sub-Saharan African countries, in addition to establishing an effective Tunisian-Libyan-African partnership.
Formation of a rapid response team to address the obstacles at the Ras Jedir crossing
Wadi indicated that the meeting discussed the procedural and logistical measures that are related to the conduct of commercial routes through the Ras Jedir crossing, and discussed ways that contribute to facilitating the movement of goods and trade between the two countries and solving obstacles facing the flow of goods without complication. Accordingly, it was decided to form a rapid response team to address the obstacles at the Ras Jedir crossing.
Activating bilateral and regional trade agreements
The two parties emphasised the further strengthening and development of the volume of intra-trade between Tunisia and Libya through building fruitful partnerships and expanding areas of cooperation. This, in addition to exploiting all available legislation in the two countries that regulate relations and contribute to improving the level of trade exchanges and advancing bilateral cooperation. This includes benefiting from the bilateral free exchange agreement, the Arab Free Trade Area Agreement, the African Continental Free Trade Area (Zone de Libre-Echange Continentale Africaine (ZLECAF) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
MOUs
Wadi mentioned that memorandums of understanding were signed in the fields of organizing exhibitions and economic forums, integration between the free zone for commercial and logistical activities in Ben Guerdane, the economic free zone in Ras Jedir from the Libyan side and establishing cooperation in the field of putting the ZLECAF agreement into force.
