[08/01/07] News Bytes From Tunisia
A round-up of some of the interesting news coming out of Tunisia these days...
A new Tunisian literary prize dubbed the “Grand prix du roman tunisien” (Grand Prize of the Tunisian novel), has been created in 2006. The new prize which is awarded to a novel written in French and in Arabic went this year to Azza Filali for her novel entitled “Chroniques d'un decalage” (Chronicles of a discrepancy) and to Hassanine Ben Ammou for his historical romance, based on the life of the great Tunisian historian Ibn Khaldoun “Al Ghouroub El Khaled” (The eternal dawn).
Libya and Tunisia are thinking of building an oil refinery and pipelines in the al-Skira region in Tunisia with the help of international investors.
Tunisia has already picked state-owned Qatar Petroleum and British company Petrofac as pre-qualified interested investors to build the plant; technical proposals and financial offers should be submitted by the end of January.
Three new business incubators will be launched in 2007 in the cities of Monastir, Sfax and Medenine, aiming at helping young entrepreneurs set up their own businesses in the areas of fisheries and aquaculture (Monastir); medicinal plants, agrifood industries, the technology of water, the fight against desertification, and applied biotechnology in arid and Saharan areas (Medenine); and biotechnology, bioinformatics, cosmetic and agronomic applications , the making of bio-pesticides as well as the sequencing and analysis of human genes (Sfax).
Tunisian documentary movie VHS Kahloucha by Nejib Belkadhi, which trails amateur Tunisian filmmaker Moncef Kahloucha as he makes his latest feature "Tarzan of the Arabs", opens in Tunisian cinemas today (Africa / Tunis, AlHambra / La Marsa, Palace / Sousse).
A pair of scimitar-horned oryxes from the Kansas City Zoo are among six from North America and four from Europe that are being reintroduced in Tunisia, the animals' native scrubland where they have been wiped out.
The 10 animals from Europe and North America will be mixed with some oryxes that were relocated to a Tunisian national park in the 1980s, in an attempt to bolster the population and re-establish the breed. The new herd will initially be fenced in Dghoumes National Park, where they will be protected by the Tunisian government. Conservationists hope to eventually remove the fences so the oryx population can migrate.
[21/02/07] News Bytes From Tunisia [09/03/07] News Bytes From Tunisia News Bytes From Tunisia Redline's RedMAX For WiMax Network Deployment In Tunisia France 24: Beyond The NewsNice news, wish to see more of these news in the middle east..
on the other side Libya decided to build a statue of Saddam which lead to Iraq ending their relations with Libya :)
Posted by: Nizar at January 8, 2007 09:10 PMRegarding Libya & Tunisia: I heard that both countries had agreed to circulate each other's currencies, exchanges prisoners and some other things that bring their partnership closer. It sounds like a good idea; interdependence is the way to go.
Thanks for the updates.
Posted by: Luke at January 8, 2007 10:11 PM@Nizar: I didn't know about the Saddam statue in Libya, lol...
@Luke: Yep, a lot of new cooperative projects are popping up between Tunisia and Libya, another one of which is a touristic station near the Tunisian-Libyan borders.
I think it's really good to work on enhancing economic ties with all neighbouring countries.
Thanks for the update! So pleased to hear about the literary prize in this age of death and violence.
Posted by: Maryam in Marrakech at January 17, 2007 10:25 AMI don't think it's a good idea for Tunisians to work closely with libyans on a cultural level as they have nothing to offer, apart from their dangerous policies vis-a-vis illegal immigrants, whom they allow to enter their country unchecked. This is dangerous culturally,economically and politically. It also poses an enormous health risk. In fact, it endangers the populations of the Southern Mediterranean.
Posted by: Sara at January 23, 2007 02:13 AM