Category: News

A Get Together To Break New Ground!

The AmCham new board members and the executive office were invited on September 30, 2024, at the U.S. ambassador’s residence to celebrate the commencement of a new chapter at AmCham Tunisia and get to know the U.S. Embassy in Tunis staff.

His Excellency M. Joe Hood, U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia, opened the reception with an eloquent speech and cordial welcome congratulating the newly elected AmCham Tunisia president and its board members by proudly declaring the unique bond that AmCham Tunisia has with the U.S. Embassy in Tunis. He stated that The United States of America sees hope and potential in Tunisia. “There are many reasons to give hope in this country…” He added, “We have seen over the past 227 years how America and Tunisian cooperation has accomplished many things together.” Moreover, since October 2023, AmCham Tunisia has been working closely with the consular service of the Embassy for a business visa program. “Within the AmCham Tunisia, that made it much easier to get the interview on time with the service consular section”, he highlighted. Finally, yet importantly, he revealed the involvement of the U.S. Government in supporting the date sector in Tunisia. “35 Million dollar project to help Tunisian farmers produce more dates with less water and hopefully process and sell more to the American market.” https://tn.usembassy.gov/u-s-department-of-agriculture-invites-applications-for-food-for-progress-program/
By closing his speech, he underlined that the U.S. Government aims to improve the business climate by working alongside the Tunisian government.

Honouring His Excellency’s speech, M. Marouane Ben Jemaa, AmCham Tunisia President, on this occasion shared his thoughts by bringing up the vital role that AmCham Tunisia plays in bridging the gap between the latest technologies and the Tunisian market, fostering innovation and progress.
As a strong and credible organization, AmCham Tunisia will blow up another candle. “Amazingly, we will celebrate its 35th anniversary in the coming weeks!”. He rejoiced. In addition, he said that the chamber has always stood as a bridge between Tunisian and American business communities. This partnership allows us to grow and thrive despite all challenges. Alongside the board members, he is committed to carrying forward AmCham’s mission of strengthening bilateral trade and investment between Tunisia and the United States, as he announced launching a two-year program to reinforce ties with American companies, such as promoting handicraft products in the U.S. and boosting its sustainable tourism by creating scientific and cultural events. To sum up his speech, he conveyed, “Let us continue to uphold the shared values of innovation, entrepreneurship, and partnership that have always defined our relationship with the United States. With trust and commitment, we can take AmCham Tunisia to new heights.”

The evening was mesmerizing and ran smooth as silk. We, AmCham Tunisia, had an extraordinary moment to exchange cultural thoughts about both countries and sustain continued contribution with the U.S. Embassy in Tunis.

AmCham Tunisia embark on another new chapter !

September 6, 2024 – The American Chamber of Commerce Tunisia – AmCham Tunisia held its 7th Elective General Assembly at Concorde Hotel Les Berges du Lac in Tunis.

AmCham Tunisia hosted its members from various sectors. The Elective General Assembly agenda was structured by overviewing the approval of the due moral and financial reports for the year 2022 and the year 2023 and the adoption of a new resolution anonymously, followed by the vote of the new AmCham Tunisia board members.

In particular, on that day, M. Noomane Fehri, CEO at OurDigitalFuture.org and an AmCham Tunisia’s board member, suggested that AmCham Tunisia’s former presidents have the right to take a seat on the executive board, to bring their expertise over 30 years. Consequently, AmCham Tunisia’s former president became an honorary board member to ensure continuity in governance.

At this moment, the list of AmCham Tunisia’s former presidents;

Mohamed Moncef Barouni

Mondher Ben Ayed

Nazeh Ben Ammar

Amel Bouchamaoui Hammami

Khaled Babbou

Naceur Hidoussi

To secure the objectivity and reliability of the Elective General Assembly for a trustworthy and fair election, AmCham Tunisia designed a panel of 4 people to conduct the vote-counting process. More than 100 members were present to participate in the election. 20 Tunisian companies and 14 U.S. companies implemented in Tunisia were displayed for the vote.

The official voting results of the elected members were announced on the same day. By the bylaws, AmCham Tunisia is delighted to introduce its new board.

 

President

Marouane Ben Jemaa (Alpha Ford)

 

General Secretary

Jihene Landolssi (Pfizer)

 

VP in Charge of Legal Affairs

Mohamed Zaanouni (Dentons)

 

VP

Fatma Rekik (COFAT)

 

Board Members-at-Large

Rym Bedoui Ayari (WeFranchiz)

Adel Dahmani (3S)

Ali Belakhoua (Starzs Electronics)

Brahim Ben Ayed (General Electric Vernova)

Haykel Belhassine (Citi)

Hela Fourati (TAEF)

Houbeb Ajmi (Université Centrale)

Islem Ben Mbarek (Al Badr Aerospace)

Jihed Jahdour (HPE)

Karim Gahbiche (CEREALIS)

Lamia Fourati (Ontech Group)

Lotfi Debbabi (QNB)

Med Ali Ben Arbia (So Invest)

Noomane Fehri (Digital Future)

Rafik Mzah (AfricInvest)

Riadh Chaieb (HP)

 

With the new board, AmCham Tunisia believes that each member will bring a wealth of expertise and high commitment that aligns perfectly with its mission and vision.

To give tribute to M. Naceur Hidoussi – 6th President of The American Chamber of Commerce in Tunisia, in his heartwarming farewell speech, said, “None of this would have been possible without the incredible efforts of our dedicated members. Your passion, hard work, and unwavering commitment to the Chamber’s mission have been the driving force behind our success.” And added “It has also been a personal journey of growth for me. Leading the Chamber through both times of opportunity and challenge has been a profound learning experience. The relationships I have built, the lessons I have learned, and the shared moments of both triumph and difficulty, will stay with me for the rest of my life.”, Then he emphasized, “There are many exciting challenges and opportunities ahead, and I have no doubt that this chamber will continue to be a beacon of collaboration and growth between our two nations.”

 

Ordinary General Assembly

AmCham Tunisia announces the holding of its Ordinary General Assembly on October 27th, 10 am @ Concorde Hotel Les Berges du Lac
The agenda is as follows:
– Presentation and adoption of the AmCham activity report.
– Presentation and adoption of the financial report.
– Appointment of a new Auditor
– Set the date of the Elective General Assembly

Naceur Hidoussi
President

GSP ANALYSIS TRADE ORGANIC POTENTIAL TUNISIA-USA

Presentation of GSP

U.S. trade preference programs such as the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is the largest and oldest U.S. trade preference program. Established by the Trade Act of 1974, (this program aims to foster the integration of developing countries into the multilateral trading system and promote development through trade)
GSP promotes economic development by eliminating duties on thousands of products when imported from one of 119 designated beneficiary countries and territories.

 

US Tunisia trade key data

Tunisia is currently the 99th largest goods trading partner with $931 million in total (two way) goods trade during 2019.
Goods exports totaled $461 million
Goods imports totaled $470 million
The U.S. goods trade deficit with Tunisia was $9 million in 2019.
According to the US Department of Commerce, U.S. exports of goods to Tunisia supported an estimated 3 thousand jobs in the USA in 2015 (latest data available).

Top Export Category to the US

•U.S. goods export from Tunisia totaled $470 million in 2019 up 44.2% from 2009
•The top export categories
•electrical machinery ($102 million)
•animal or vegetable fats and oils -olive oil ($97 million)
•woven apparel ($58 million)
•machinery ($49 million)
•and edible fruit & nuts (date, fig) ($19 million)

Top 25 of GSP underutilized codes results in loss of $28 millions USD for Tunisia exporters

USTR data 2019

Actions

Inform
•About 20% of Tunisia companies eligible to a GSP privilege are not claiming or underutilizing GSP – mainly in the automotive – aeronautics
Increase quotas
•About 80% of Tunisia exports under GSP are food related items. The quotas are nearly fully utilized (95%)

 

ADD HS codes

There is a large untapped potential in the automotive (electronics – cables, etc.)
(cf. ITC data –Trade DSM)
•Members requested for new HS: fruits / automotive / Dates Paste / Packaged Dates / Tuna and Sardines in olive oil / Tires / Galvanized tubes and coils / Electrical sub-assembly Cards Equipped with an Electronic Integrated Circuit (Smart Cards) / Printed circuits board / plastic parts / Aluminum box / Articles / sanitary ware / Ceramics / Floor tiles

Advocacy for GSP

Discussion with USTR
•Better understand how countries are evaluated and GSP reconducted
•Addendum of HS codes that can promote new sectors (cf. success story of arts and crafts)-
•also help Tunisia better integration since GSP represents only 32% of traded goods with US
•Technical assistance – capacity building programs (cosmetics – drugs)
Communication on GSP
•Discussion with private sector to increase awareness
•Modelization with international trade specialist to understand the impact of GSP on new sectors
•Consultation with agri-food sector to better understand needs related to GSP (Quotas, renewal, etc.)

 

 

US BUSINESS VISA PROGRAM

Through the launch of the U.S. Business Visa Program, AmCham Tunisia members will be able to request visa appointments for business travel to the United States. The U.S. Business Visa Program aims to further expand commercial ties between the United States and Tunisia by assisting AmCham members in developing deeper connections with their American business counterparts.

Prosper Africa Webinar December 15th, 2020

AmCham Tunisia & Tunisian Investment Authority (TIA) organized a Webinar on Prosper Africa on December 15th. About 86 participants from Tunisia as well as other African countries, and from the USA attended the event.

Speakers of this Webinar :
* Mr.Naceur Hidoussi, President AmCham Tunisia
* Mr. Beligh Ben Soltane, Chairman, Tunisia Investment Authority
* Ambassadeur Riadh Essid, Directeur Général Amérique-Asie-Océanie (DGAA)
* Mr.John Hansen, Senior Advisor for Transactions, Prosper Africa Executive   Secretariat, Washington DC, USA
* Mrs. Rym Bedoui Ayari, VP, AmCham Tunisia, Moderator

The webinar featured a presentation of TIA services to support extensions and or new US investments  in Tunisia. Amcham highlighted the importance of the Prosper Africa initiative for the US investment and trade flow in the country and the region. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs discussed the opportunities provided to US private sector in the continent’s free trade areas such as AfCFTA and pursuing negotiations on FTA.

Prosper Africa coordinator, John Hansan shared a presentation on the initiative (click on link).

Bellow how to submit your project:

Prosper Africa POC — ProsperAfrica@usaid.gov.  Interested companies can use this email to submit Prosper Africa candidate projects, which goes to our expert team in Washington.  Companies can cc Luis and me for awareness, but the Washington-based team is best-suited to evaluate proposals and respond to project questions.

Guidelines and information needed for submissions are included here: https://prosperafrica.dfc.gov/prosper-africa-inquiries/  General information on Prosper Africa and its programs is here: https://prosperafrica.dfc.gov/

INVEST IF Platform EOI  — The purpose of this form is for Tunisian SMEs (or Tunisia-based U.S. SMEs) to express interest in receiving investment facilitation support or for other ecosystem players (investors, accelerators, etc.) to recommend SMEs to receive support. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfFoe-V67n-dQ50dx65RcIFrAESjM082uv2aoIbDls7s1mANQ/viewform

Webinar on the impact of the US Post Election on the US / Tunisian relations

You are kindly invited to join us for a webinar on December 9th, 3pm to discuss about the impact of the US Post Election on the US / Tunisian relations:

Guest Speakers:

Mr. Khemaies Jhinaoui, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs (link Bio)
Mr. Jacob Walles, 2012–2015 US Ambassador to Tunisia (link Bio)

RSVP To receive the login and password

Virtual “Open Day” to learn more about the U.S. Exchange programs

Join us for a virtual “Open Day” to learn more about the U.S. Exchange programs available for Tunisians. We will be LIVE on Facebook (fb.com/usembassytunis) on Sunday, November 8, starting at 10:00 AM.  More information on our programs  → https://go.usa.gov/x7WTx  

The U.S. Embassy Cultural attachée spoke about the exchange programs provided by the embassy in Tunisia on Radio IFM.  (video)

MENA E-commerce Entrepreneur Knowledge Series

Looking to improve your e-commerce knowledge?

Join us for the “MENA E-commerce Entrepreneur Knowledge Series: E-commerce and COVID-19 Recovery for Small Businesses” from June 15 to July 2.

What is it?

Together with the World Bank and UPS, ITC is offering a series of webinars to support small business owners in the Middle East and North Africa to leverage e-commerce. We will offer:

  • 6 master webinars to train on key e-commerce topics such as COVID-19 recovery recommendations, international marketplaces, shipping solutions and improving online visibility.
  • 9 deep-dive clinic webinars to discuss topics ranging from online payment solutions to social media advertising and targeting local customers.

All master webinars will have simultaneous translation into English, French and Arabic. For the deep-dive clinic webinars, only the discussion and Q&A will be in any of the three languages. 

Who can participate?

The webinar series is open to every entrepreneur although the focus will be on e-commerce in the following countries from the MENA region: Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia.

How can you register?
To join the webinars, you will need to:
 

1.      Register on ecomConnect.org, the e-commerce community engagement platform with a special focus on developing and least developed countries.

2.      Join the group “We Fi Project in the MENA region” & register for the preferred webinars.

More information?

Check the attached programme or click here.