The leaders in Tunisia and the United States “have the duty and the responsibility to nurture and strengthen our relations and contacts on a regular basis, with frankness and vision, in order to serve best, our mutual interests and respond effectively, to the numerous current global and vital challenges, which by far exceed the capabilities of each country alone,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Nabil Ammar on the US Independence Day.
He added in an address during a ceremony held on Thursday evening by the US embassy in Tunisia on the occasion of the 247th anniversary of the US independence, that “Tunisia and the United States of America have always stood together, and have been united at all crucial historical moments, be it for one of the two countries or for both at the same time,” according to a foreign department press release.
“Our cooperation is diversified and a strategic one. It covers many areas: political and security dialogue, economic, commercial and financial cooperation, scientific research, communication technologies, environmental protection, transport, healthcare etc. Our achievements are consistent,” Ammar considered.
“And the good news is that we can do much more!,” he said, pointing notably to the sectors of tourism, crafts, culture, investment, olive oil and local products, services and communication.
“The potential is very promising, and is just waiting for the intensification of contacts between our operators to begin to materialize,” he specified, reiterating “call to multiply meetings between the economic actors of the two countries, in particular from the private sector, in order to establish a real advantageous and sustainable partnership for both sides.”
“It is this very dynamic that will favor a healthy and sustainable recovery of the Tunisian economy, which will nurture and strengthen the protection, by Tunisians themselves, of their freedoms and their ability to enjoy them with full responsibility,” the FM considered.
US Ambassador to Tunisia Joey Hood stressed for his part, that relations between his country and Tunisia “are strong today and I am sure they will continue to be strong for years to come,” an embassy press release reads.
He recalled that the USA were the first great power to recognize Tunisia’s independence in 1956, adding: “our relations actually go back to 1799, when we concluded our first treaty of friendship and trade.”
Minister of Finance Sihem Boughdiri was also present at the ceremony.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse