Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has called for exploring new forms of strategic cooperation between Tunisia and the European Union and for revisiting existing arrangements to safeguard the interests of both sides, within a harmonized and comprehensive legal and legislative framework—without breaking with the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (ALECA) or the 1995 Association Agreement.
Speaking at the 39th edition of the Enterprise Days, organized by the Arab Institute of Business Leaders in Sousse on Friday and Saturday under the theme “The global economic system in the regional and Tunisian context,” Villepin said Tunisia has strong geographic and human assets, notably the quality of its university graduates and the vitality of its economic fabric, including start-ups such as Instadeep, which he described as a key driver of economic ties between Europe, the Maghreb and Africa.
The former head of government also argued that the banking and financial sector is the cornerstone of reviving the regional economy linking Tunisia, Africa and Europe. In this regard, he highlighted the challenges facing the Central Bank of Tunisia, particularly in supporting resilience and financial integration, and in securing digital payments as they continue to evolve.
On trade, he recalled that 70% of Tunisia’s exports are destined for Europe, while 43% of its imports come from the continent—particularly from France, Germany and Italy. He stressed the need to strengthen production and value chains, arguing that political and social stability would help attract investment—especially European capital—to boost industrialization, leverage digitalization, and harness the skills of Tunisia’s university and vocational graduates, a young population he described as creative and innovative.
Villepin further said Tunisia is now a “regional hub,” noting that it devotes a significant share of its resources to innovation—more than some neighboring countries—and that it has 1,500 promising start-ups. Taken together, he said, these geographic, economic and human factors, combined with better-aligned legislative frameworks, could stimulate investment and allow Tunisia to gain three additional percentage points of growth, as the World Bank anticipates an acceleration in growth at both regional and global levels.
He concluded by urging Tunisia and its partners to move beyond a development model based on “assistance,” which he believes no longer meets society’s aspirations, toward a new approach built on rewriting the shared rules between Tunisia, Africa and Europe, while taking into account the new digital and environmental realities.
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