In a context of democratic transition and reorganization of the national economy, industrial areas appear to be vital for Tunisia due to their great potential for economic growth and regional development. At the present time, Tunisia has more than 150 industrial zones and the government plans to build more than a hundred new areas in a short term (one year).
The German cooperation agency, GIZ, has been active since 2008 in Tunisia where it promotes and supports the sustainable management of industrial zones. So far, it has focused on bringing support at various levels (technical support, training, studies, etc.) to ensure that the areas may have a greater impact on their environmental and economic environment.
In a situation of growing unemployment and economic slowdown, GIZ wants to go to the next level so that to increase the competitiveness and social impact of industrial areas. Today, most of them suffer from a lack of access to basic services, such as for example restaurants for employees or catering for companies, transportation services, security, technical platforms etc. that prevent them from achieving their full potential of development and hinder the arrival of new investments. At the same time local communities from the areas face very high unemployment rates and the dialogue between industrial areas and communities is very limited.
In this context, CAD has been commissioned by GIZ in December 2012 to design and implement a new inclusive growth methodology aiming at creating new services in industrial areas that respond to the unsatisfied demand of services, while at the same time creating new jobs for local unemployed communities. The project, led by CAD with the support of a Tunisian consultancy, TPAD, will run throughout 2013 and will be developed through an extensive partnership strategy with Tunisian actors (whether public, private, international organizations or civil society) with the primary objective of achieving the creation of 40 jobs in the short term. In the long run, it is meant to become a national methodology to enable industrial areas find their full development potential.
