Italian and Tunisian Companies Getting Closer

In February AIdAM was again in Tunisia for a new mission, organised together with ICE and Tunis, where there was talk about the collaboration between the two Mediterranean countries regarding ICT and mechatronics sectors. Tunisia currently, according to Bloomberg Innovation Index, ranks first in Africa for the number high-tech companies.

by Michela Zanardo

AIdAM’s focus on Tunisia was enriched in February by a news mission, organised in collaboration with ICE offices in Rome and Tunis, and dedicated to the strategic partnership between the two countries in mechatronics and ICT fields.
The mission, which was attended, among others, by some associated companies, officially opened on February 12, with the greetings of the Italian Ambassador in Tunis, Lorenzo Fanara, who spoke in the morning at the opening conference. On stage academics and entrepreneurs from both countries alternated, presenting their experience and explaining the reasons why the strengthening of the Italian-Tunisian partnership could bring important benefits to both countries.

Closer and closer cooperation
After a first day of presentation and in-depth conference, completed by B2B meetings, which allowed Italian entrepreneurs a more direct contact with Tunisian companies, the next two were dedicated to visiting the main technological clusters of the country: Novation City and El Gazhala. Both reference points and innovation drive for the whole country, they offer excellent services for companies that join their network and act as business hubs at international level. As well as encouraging cooperation between clusters also through participation in European programmes, they play a fundamental role in cooperation on Industry 4.0 issues by promoting B2B meetings and B2B missions between companies.

A trade of billions of euro
The bilateral Italy-Tunisia trade, now a solid and dynamic reality, generates a turnover of around 5.6 billion euros and Italy is confirmed in second place as a customer, supplier and investor in the country. There are now numerous examples of fruitful commercial cooperation, across the various sectors, also encouraged by the most recent Tunisian government programs favourable to digitization and the birth of innovative start-ups.
Tunisia, which invests a lot of resources in education, has also a large pool of young engineers and specialized technicians and, according to the Bloomberg Innovation Index, ranks first in Africa for the number of high-tech companies present in the territory.