A loan agreement in the amount of 143.3 million Saudi Riyals (112 million Tunisian dinars) was signed on Friday in Tunis between the Tunisian Minister of Economy and Planning, Samir Abdelhafidh, and the Director General of the Saudi Development Fund (FSD), Soltan Bin Abderrahmane Al-Murshed. This loan supports a strategic project aimed at creating an Oasian pole in the Borj Bourguiba region, in the South Tunisian.
The project provides for the extension of the border village of Borj Bourguiba, the construction of new villages nearby, as well as the development and irrigation of 1,000 hectares of agricultural land thanks to the drilling of 22 wells. This initiative is based on a rational management of underground hydraulic resources, essential for combating desertification and preserving local biodiversity.
Minister Abdelhafidh recalled the long cooperation between Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, marked by more than 30 projects funded since the 1970s, for a total amount exceeding one billion dollars. The loan, refundable over 20 years at a preferential rate of 2.5 %, aims to stimulate local economic development, create jobs and strengthen social stability in this strategic area.
For the Minister of Agriculture, Ezzedine Ben Cheikh, this project will also help strengthen the resilience of populations in the face of climate change and to curb the rural exodus by offering sustainable agricultural opportunities. This Oasian pole thus represents an answer integrated into the environmental, economic and social challenges of the South Tunisian.
