(TAP) – The Tunisian-Turkish cooperation committee should meet soon to review the free trade agreement signed between the two countries in 2005, Director General of Economic and Trade Cooperation at the Ministry of Trade Saida Hachicha said Friday.

In a statement to TAP, the official stressed the importance of this periodic meeting, which was scheduled, initially, last June but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said the meeting should consider ways to reduce the trade deficit with Turkey which reached 1,100 million dinars, until May 2021, noting that solutions will be proposed to the Turkish side to resolve this deficit.

She added that the trade deficit with Turkey was reduced to 2,140 million dinars in 2020, from 2,500 million dinars in 2019.

The official also made it clear that this kind of meetings is held with all trade partners of Tunisia.

Tunisia imports from Turkey textiles, cosmetics and electrical and mechanical products, while it exports mainly phosphate, dates, seafood and pastries, according to Hachicha.

The free trade agreement provides for an exemption from customs duties only on industrial products traded between the two countries.

The trade deficit widened to 8,725.3 million dinars, until end July 2021, against 7,567.1 million dinars, during the same period last year, according to a note on “Foreign Trade at current prices July 2021” published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) Thursday.

Source: TAP News Agency