Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said Thursday in Khartoum at the opening of the Tunisian-Sudanese economic forum that this meeting “is a concrete step on the path of reviving cooperation between the two countries”.
Chairing with Speaker of the Sudanese Parliament Bakri Hassan Salah the works of the forum, Chahed called on the two countries’ businessmen to “intensify cooperation and economic partnership relations in order to enhance the level of bilateral relations for which the agreements signed Thursday as part of the High Joint Committee, to open broader perspectives so as to further promote partnership between the public and private sectors.
The Speaker of the Sudanese parliament said that “the economic forum is a new milestone on the path of bolstering bilateral cooperation in the interests of the two countries and the two peoples”.
“It is now important for the two countries’ businessmen to make the most of the opportunities offered in Tunisia and Sudan and to highlight the privileges they offer,” he said.
Bakri Hassan Salah enumerated the multiple fields of possible cooperation in the two countries, including health, technical services, trade and agriculture.
The work of the forum, attended by a large number of Tunisian and Sudanese businessmen, resulted in the signing of the executive programme of the Tunisian-Sudanese Business Council, two memoranda of understanding on insurance and reinsurance, and the pharmaceutical industry.
President of the Sudanese businessmen’s union Saoud Maamoun, and vice-president of the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts samir Maajoul, stressed that the holding of the Economic forum and the Tunisian-Sudanese High Joint Committee testifies to the convergence of the two countries’ views for strengthening economic cooperation, through the conclusion of real partnerships between the two countries’ businessmen and the exploitation of the privileges granted by Tunisia and Sudan.
The two leaders also noted that the geographical position of Tunisia and Sudan, constituting a bridge to the Maghreb countries and Europe and a bridge to Africa, respectively, is an important platform for reactivating cooperation that can take a strategic dimension serving the interests of both countries and energise the initiative and comprehensive development in each of the two countries. “
