TUNISIA ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TUNIS 000896 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/MAG (HARRIS) STATE PASS USTR (BELL),USPTO (ADLIN AND ADAMS),USAID (MCCLOUD) USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/ONE (NATHAN MASON),ADVOCACY CTR (JAMES),AND CLDP (TEJTEL AND MCMANUS) CASABLANCA FOR FCS (ORTIZ) LONDON AND PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD EINV EFIN ECPS ENRG EPET TS SUBJECT: TUNISIA ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS REF: 06 TUNIS 2950 ¶1. (U) This cable contains highlights of recent economic developments in Tunisia on the following topics: ¶A. Creation of a New Agency for E-Commerce ¶B. British Gas to Invest US $1.3 billion in Tunisia ¶C. Central Bank June Report ¶D. Italy and Tunisia Agree to Connect Electrical Grids -------------- Creation of a New Agency for E-Commerce -------------- ¶2. (U) The Ministry of Commerce and Handicrafts plans to create the Technical Agency for the Development of E-Commerce (AGTDCE). Although widely reported in local press, a Ministry of Commerce contact indicated that the agency is still in the initial planning stages. The AGTDCE will act as a one-stop shop where companies can receive assistance in launching websites, marketing goods and providing online services. Observers note that online commercial transactions in Tunisia have strongly increased from 7,658 in 2005 to 63,000 transactions in 2006, an increase of 800 percent. However, e-commerce remains relatively limited with only 250 Tunisian websites out of 4,566 offering the possibility of online payment. ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT AND BACKGROUND: Despite GOT interest in e-commerce, the potential remains limited due to low Internet use. Most reports place Internet use at around 10 percent of the population. In addition, due to the non-convertibility of the dinar, Tunisians are not able to make international purchases online. The Tunisian Post has developed a credit card called "e-dinar" with which users can make online payments for some government services. The GOT is trying to promote such online services by pushing institutions as universities, public utilities and state-owned companies, such as national airline Tunisair, to accept payment via e-dinar. END COMMENT AND BACKGROUND. -------------- -------------- British Gas to Invest US $1.3 billion in Tunisia -------------- -------------- ¶4. (U) On June 20, Robert Wilson, Chairman of British Gas (BG) Group, the largest foreign investor in Tunisia, announced that BG would invest US $1.3 billion to boost its natural gas production in Tunisia. The first project, an investment of US$ 500 million, will raise output at the Miskar field near the southern town of Gabes. BG has already invested US $1 billion in Miskar. In addition to the Miskar project, BG will invest US $800 billion along with state-owned Tunisian Company for Petroleum Activities (ETAP) to finance the development of new gas field in Hasdrubal. ETAP will contribute US $400 million to the Hasdrubal project. ¶5. (U) BACKGROUND: Tunisia imports most of its refined oil product needs due to declining output from its aging fields over the past decade. BG Tunisia is the leading company on the Tunisian gas market, supplying more than 50 percent of domestic demand. Production comes from the Miskar offshore fields in the Gulf of Gabes. Natural gas is piped to the coast south of Sfax where it is processed at the Hannibal plant and sold to the state-owned Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG). END BACKGROUND. -------------- Central Bank June Report -------------- ¶6. (U) According to the Central Bank's June report, the inflation rate was 2.3 percent for the first five months of 2007, down from 4.6 percent in the same period of 2006. The current account deficit was 1.4 percent of GDP over the first five months of 2007, down slightly from 1.6 percent over the same period of last year. The improvement in the current account deficit is the result of a TUNIS 00000896 002 OF 002 lower trade deficit (NFI). Hard currency reserves topped 8.675 billion dinars (US $6.5 billion),up 67 percent due to a 9.4 percent rise in tourist receipts and a 5.8 percent rise in expatriate remittances. -------------- Privatization of Magasin General Retail Chain -------------- ¶7. (U) On June 26, Tunisian consortium GIAN-Poulina won the tender to purchase a majority share in state-owned retail grocery chain Magasin General. The consortium has offered 70 million dinar (about US $55 million) for the purchase of a 76.31 percent stake in Magasin General. The remaining shares are privately held. Created in the 1920s, Magasin General has a network of 45 stores throughout Tunisia. According to Tunisian financial online magazine Tustex, annual turnover is approximately 100 million dinars (about US $78 million). GIAN belongs to the Bayahi family group, which owns business in the aluminum industry, agribusiness, textile, retail sector and finance. The Bayahis' partner, Poulina, is one of the largest Tunisian groups with 40 subsidiaries in both industrial and service sectors, including agribusiness, computer science, tourism, ceramics and others. ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: Retail distribution has expanded rapidly with the success of French retail chains Carrefour and Geant. According to Tustex, total annual turnover for the four main retail chains operating in Tunisia (Carrefour, Geant, Monoprix and Magasin General) is roughly US $606 million, or nearly 2 percent of GDP. Tustex estimates that the Tunisian retail sector is growing by 15 percent annually. While the French retail chains have successfully expanded their operations, Magasin General has had difficulty competing with the wider selection and better advertising of the international chains. As with many state-owned enterprises, Magasin General is also believed to be overstaffed. In recent weeks, the local press has reported strikes by Magasin General employees, who fear the privatization will bring job cuts. END COMMENT. -------------- -------------- Italy and Tunisia Agree to Connect Electrical Grids -------------- -------------- ¶9. (U) On June 29, state-owned Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) signed a memorandum of understanding with Italian Terna Spa to build a submarine cable connecting the two countries' electrical grids and to launch a tender to build and manage a new electrical plant in El Haouaria. The El Haouaria plant, scheduled to be operational in 2011, will produce 1200 megawatts: 800 megawatts for the Italian market and 400 megawatts for Tunisia. The total project is estimated to cost between 2 and 2.5 billion dinars (roughly US $1.55 to 1.93 billion). The project falls under the framework of an agreement signed in July 2003 between Tunisia and Italy to promote energy cooperation. In 2006, the GOT signed several agreements with Italian energy firms to expand the transit capacity of Algerian gas to Italy (Reftel). GODEC