Trade exchange between Maghreb and Gulf states increases by 7.8 percent

The volume of trade exchange between the member countries of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) and of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) went up from $312 million in 1987 to $663 million in 1996, recording an average annual increase of 7.8 percent.

The figures were disclosed by the director general of the Gulf International Bank, Abdallah Ben Brahim el-Koueiz, at a meeting in Tunis over the weekend on economic relations between UMA which includes Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia and the GCC, which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

He said that despite this evolution, exchange between the two groupings is still limited, partly in view of a lack of data and means of communication.

To upgrade economic ties between the two groups, the banker called for the promotion of trade exchange, the lowering of obstacles, the encouragement of tourism and joint ventures, the resort to arab labor, the promotion of communication and transport and the increase of contacts between the two sides' private sectors.

Director general of the Tunisian agency for promoting foreign investment, Faouzi Dhmaied, said during the encounter that Arab investments in Tunisia represent 8 percent of overall foreign investments. Saudi Arabia ranks first among Arab investors in the Maghreban country, followed by Kuwait, he said.

He said the tourism sector accounts for 74.2 of investments by GCC countries while 19.6 percent goes to industry and 6.2 percent to agriculture and fisheries.

He noted that trade exchange between Tunisia and GCC countries remains modest. In 1997, only 0.7 percent of Tunisia's exports were shipped to these countries, and 0.9 of its imports came from the GCC.