In May this year, the country's president instructed Prime Minister,
Mohamed Ghannouchi, to draw up a new programme of privatisation. This
proposal indicates that extra state enterprises will be put up for
sale in addition to the 41 companies that the government earlier
announced would be concerned in privatisation in 2001. Behind the
president's thinking was an intention to satisfy increasing demands of
private investors and meet international expectations.
As part of this new privatisation drive, Communications Minister,
Ahmed Friaa, has announced plans to sell off a minority shareholding
in the state telecommunications company, Tunisie Telecom, and
Transport Minister, Hassine Chouk, also made it clear that freight
handling in Tunisia's ports would be opened up to the private sector.
A number of smaller scale privatisations have also been launched in
Tunisia. Lloyd Tunisien, government owned insurance firm, has been
bought for TD5 million ($3.4 million) by a subsidiary of the Saudi
Arabian Dalla El Baraka group, Best-Re. Agri-business firm, AGRI, was
also sold in March 2001.
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