HSE Centre for African Studies participated in the Russian-Tunisian Business Forum

On November 28, 2024, Moscow hosted the Business Forum “Russia-Tunisia: Expanding Horizons.” It was co-organized by the Russian-Tunisian Business Council and held in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. 

The Forum was moderated by Vladimir Padalko, Vice President of the Chamber. President of the Chamber, Sergey Katyrin, addressed the Forum participants with an opening speech. He mentioned the growing Russian-Tunisian trade relations, especially in such fields as agriculture, processing industry, pharmaceuticals, and tourism:

“The volume of mutual trade has reached 2 billion dollars. We believe that it will continue to show positive dynamics.”

Samir Abid, Minister of Trade and Export Development of the Republic of Tunisia, highlighted the importance of experience, information, and technology exchange between Russia and Tunisia, since it “helps to achieve common goals.”. 

Samir Majoul, President of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), admitted that the meeting symbolized “a high quality of Russia-Tunisian relations and the desire to develop them.”. 

Within the main part of the program, the members of the Tunisian delegation addressed the speeches, as well as the Russian participants: representatives of government agencies and Russian regions. 

Entrepreneurs, as well as small and mid-sized businesses, are playing the most important role in technological and economic cooperation. That is why representatives of the business community and experts participated in the forum, alongside the officials. Philipp Grinin, Deputy Coordinator of the E-Governance Knowledge-Sharing Program, and Anna Bondarenko, the expert of the Program, also attended the meeting. According to them, “For boosting mutual cooperation, it’s important to work on digitalization.” A detailed overview of the Tunisian digital development was made by the HSE Center for African Studies and is available in the “African Countries E-Gov Profiles” section of the E-Governance Knowledge Sharing Program’s website.