Tunisia

Political relations

Tunisia is a priority for France and our relations are very strong.

The French President spoke with Mr Kais Saied on 14 October, just after he was elected President of the Tunisian Republic. He met with President Saied’s predecessor, Mr Beji Caid Essebsi, on several occasions, and made a state visit to Tunisia from 31 January to 1 February 2018. President Macron attended President Essebsi’s funeral in Tunis on 27 July 2019.

Prime Minister Édouard Philippe chose to make Tunisia the destination of his first visit outside the European Union. He was received in Tunis on 5 October 2017 by President Essebsi and the Tunisian Head of Government, Mr Youssef Chahed, with whom he inaugurated the “Rencontres Africa” and co-chaired the first Franco-Tunisian High-Level Cooperation Council. The French Prime Minister co-chaired the second meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council alongside his Tunisian counterpart, Mr Youssef Chahed, in Paris on 14 February 2019, and they also met on 11 November 2019, on the sidelines of the Paris Peace Forum.

Accompanied by 10 ministers, Mr Youssef Chahed made an official visit to Paris from 13 to 15 February 2019, on the occasion of the High-Level Cooperation Council, meeting with the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the Presidents of the Senate, the National Assembly and the Constitutional Council. An agreement on international passenger road transport was signed, as were two Agence Française de Développement (AFD, French Development Agency) funding agreements in the health field. Mr Chahed’s first visit to Paris was on 9 and 10 November 2016.

Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, also chose Tunisia for his first visit to the Arab world and his first visit outside Europe, travelling to Tunis on 4 and 5 June 2017. He visited Tunis on 22 July 2018, on the way to Libya, on 21 and 22 October 2018, and again on 19 March 2019, before continuing to Libya.

The Minister again visited Tunisia on 9 January 2020, meeting President Saied.

Economic relations

France and Tunisia have strong trade and financial relations. In 2018, France was Tunisia’s leading trading partner, as the destination for almost 30% of Tunisian exports and the source of more than 14% of its imports.

France is also the country’s leading source of foreign direct investment. While Tunisia has a structural trade deficit, France has a bilateral trade deficit with Tunisia which stood at €1.2 billion in 2018. In recent years, France has lost market share and in 2017 lost its position as leading supplier falling behind Italy.

French exports to Tunisia stood at €3.2 billion in 2016, down 10% on 2015. Excluding the years when aerospace equipment has been delivered, France’s exports to Tunisia are tending to lose market share, in favour of emerging countries such as China or Turkey. France, which in the past had been Tunisia’s leading supplier, fell behind Italy in 2017. However, France maintains its traditional position as Tunisia’s leading customer with nearly 30% of the country’s exports going to France.

France has a very strong presence in Tunisia, with a total of around 140,000 people employed by French companies, particularly in industrial and service sectors.

During his state visit in 2018, the French President committed to double the investments of French companies in Tunisia. This ambitious objective is fuelling enhanced cooperation between the two countries.