Mr. President, for many, Tunisia is a typical Arab country. In fact, it was able to balance authenticity and modernity, while channeling all efforts on developing its human resources. How do you explain such a balance?

Since the dawn of the November 7 Change era, we sought to firmly establish the components of our personality and to anchor the pillars of our authenticity, drawing inspiration from our cultural, historical and geographical belonging, so as to regild our Arab Islamic identity, in a civilized framework conciliating our authentic folklore with the requirements of openness, and keeping up with progress and modernity. This goes hand in hand with the traditions of our country, which has long been a space for enriching and crossbreeding cultures; thus, tolerance and dialogue became a common feature among all Tunisian men and women.

So we linked the preservation of authenticity to the renewal of its meanings, for it to be a key factor of social progress and development. The social project, whose numerous stages we partially accomplished, aims at anchoring the Tunisian character in its roots and updating it, far from all narrow-mindedness, and according to an approach that avoids the recurrence of other societies’ deviations or distortions. Modernization in Tunisia was a radical change in the social structure, as well as a tool of civilization and progress, to contribute to the human legacy, and enrich its producer/innovator, not consumer, reserves. Furthermore, modernization in our country depends on our personal capacities and approaches, and on our well founded values, all the while consciously accompanying the changes around us. When we made democracy a constant political trend, our choice stemmed from our reformative inheritance. Thus, we rejected ready-made formulas. On the contrary, we chose approaching this change progressively so it gets anchored and adapts non-arbitrarily with our social environment, in order to preserve stability and the continuity of new political, economic or social institutions we vowed to develop and renew. When we chose economic reform, we wanted it to closely accompany the social aspect to complement our development policy, in order to authenticate the required economic reforms subjected today to international institutions and bodies to evaluate their soundness and accuracy. When we launched a comprehensive reform process for our education sector, we did not import a value system, because we were aware that the social project we proposed to the Tunisian people with its modernity requirements needs rehabilitating and empowering our human resources so they gain high technological knowledge and skills.

In other words, we wanted our human resources to become competencies able to go forward with the change so we can reach our development goals, without letting the reform process undermine cultural constants. We always prided ourselves with the components of our national identity and with being a part of a country that is long-standing in our human civilization. We can also take this as a basis for our other choices. The balance you have mentioned in your question stems from our understanding that authenticity means respecting the features of societies while shaking off all narrow-minded or stone age thinking, and that modernization means a spontaneous natural integration in the current human and historical moment and an efficient openness to global changes.

Tunisia draws big investments from many Gulf countries and from elsewhere. How do you perceive the development of investment and business? What does Tunisia aim at in this regard?

Every observer easily notices that Tunisia’s position as an investment destination is not declining. We put it down to many objective factors. Among the most important are our development achievements, political stability, social progress, competent human resources, and our geographical location at the crossroads of Africa and the Mediterranean. Tunisia showed its success as an investment destination when it ranked among the best in the assessment reports of specialized UN and international organizations and bodies.

Today, Tunisia hosts around 3,000 foreign or joint institutions. It has also attracted great funds in numerous vital sectors. The increase in foreign investments is due to Tunisia’s preferential production costs, highly skilled labor, and its adoption of motivating customs and tax legislation, and facilitated forex and money transfer systems. Undoubtedly, attracting Arab investments in general and Gulf investments in particular is one of our main concerns right now. Knowing that Gulf states were pioneers when they backed Tunisia since its independence, we have forged strong ties of cooperation, partnership and fraternity based on mutual respect and common interests. The United Arab Emirates became the first investor in Tunisia, while noting Saudi, Kuwaiti and others as well.

We seek building more bridges with our brothers, while developing and diversifying the basis of cooperation. The call is open for the Gulf and Arab private sector to delve into Tunisia’s promising investment opportunities, great customs and tax incentives, as well as its sound economic, social and political environment. Our efforts will soon be centered on attracting more foreign investments as a main support for development. We look forward to the day when investments exceed 8 billion dinars under the 11th development plan (2007-2011) against 5.1 billion dinars in the 10th plan. We are confident that Tunisia has today many opportunities for investing and conducting business to attain the goal we have set. November 7, 2007, was the 20th anniversary of your accession to power.

What changes has Tunisian society undergone in that time? And what further changes do you see?

With the Change, we tried to restore confidence and set an environment of reconciliation and consensus, aware that nothing can be achieved without the active participation of the nation and all citizens individually and collectively. We worked toward reestablishing republican values, requiring first and foremost progress and justice. Society has been modernized. We also developed a sense of initiative and spread a taste for entrepreneurship in an effort to unleash the forces active in creating wealth. Our administration is less heavy today. Moreover, we promoted pluralism and opened the doors to [civic] freedoms and democratic practice. Our vision of democracy takes into account our country’s history and culture, while combining the requirements of pluralism, freedom and human rights promotion. Such are universal values. It was an exhilarating task for us since it allowed us to implement the reforms necessary to [creating] a pluralist system where nine political parties of different affiliations coexist today. We restored the sovereignty of the people, who can now freely choose their leaders in transparent and regular elections held every five years. One must keep in mind that only in these last two decades have we witnessed pluralist presidential elections, that opposition parties have made it to parliament, and that the legislative sector was reinforced with the establishment of a House of Counselors. For the first time the people were able to practice their sovereignty directly, by means of a referendum over constitutional reform. I would also like to remind you of the decisions taken for financing political parties, and of the aid granted to the party’s press, the electoral amendment and uncountable reforms and measures taken to promote and develop democratic practice. We transformed Tunisia into a constitutional state with solid institutions, ensuring stability for a continuously serene development. At the economic level, indicators reveal the great progress we achieved despite difficult global circumstances. All these performances go to show we have shifted from a developing to an emerging country. Our economy’s vitality is undoubtedly a strong point for the November 7 Change. Ranking first in Africa and 29th globally when it comes to competitiveness, Tunisia is one of the 80 most developed states. Besides reducing inflation to an all-time low and decreasing the budget deficit to 2.9 percent of GNP, our country for a long time guaranteed steady economic growth, close to 5 percent yearly for two decades, thus allowing us to increase GDP six-fold. We worked hard for this growth to be equally distributed among all Tunisians. Reports on household expenditure and consumption show a progressive improvement in quality of life, with the kinds of commodities associated with progress becoming available to all citizens. Thus, the middle class developed, and now represents more than three-quarters of the population. Our social policy reform reduced poverty to affecting only 3.8 percent of the population, against twice that percentage 20 years ago. We were able to increase the volume of social transfers, representing today more than 56 percent of the state’s overall budget. Furthermore, we widened social coverage that reached 90 percent today against 54.6 percent in 1987. Our health system improved while education and training were updated. We are determined to go forward, so Tunisia can rank among developed countries. We understand it will not be an easy task, but we know it’s possible if we see it through.

The status of women in Tunisian society - exceptional in an Arab Muslim society - a flourishing economy lauded by the World Bank, a strong middle class like in no other Arab Muslim country … These are surely all a source of pride, correct?

We are unquestionably proud of having integrated women in the general dynamic of development. Today, gender equality is expressly guaranteed in constitutional and legislative material. Many indicators confirm women’s outstanding status. She henceforth takes a more active, more decisive part in all sectors, in application of our general political approach based on promoting women’s rights as an integral part of human rights. Women represent almost 25 percent of the working population in Tunisia. Female representation rates reach 22,7 percent in the parliament, more than 15 percent in the House of Counselors, more than 27 percent in municipal councils, 8 percent in the Economic and Social Council, 13.3 percent in the High Judiciary Council, and 12 percent in the government. Women also represent 27 percent of judges, 31 percent of lawyers, 42 percent of the medical body, 72 percent of pharmacists and 34 percent of journalists. Women are also strongly present in the public sector and in associations. We are pleased in particular in our success in reducing poverty to 3.8 percent. We advocate an open economy, based on private entrepreneurship and wealth creation. Meanwhile, we seek to preserve the social dimension of development. Thus, investment in social sectors, mainly in education, health and women empowerment, captures more than half the state’s budget. Achievements in these fields are a source of pride for our country: school enrollment reached 99 percent; women form 59 percent of the total number of students. Finally, a Tunisian citizen’s life expectancy today reaches 74 years. These results allowed a remarkable progress in the Human Development Index in Tunisia that reached 0.76 percent in 2006, thus nearing that in developed countries. What is your answer to some international non-governmental organizations accusing Tunisia of not respecting human rights and freedom of the press? From the beginning, we made the choice of democracy, human rights and public freedoms. These personal choices were made irreversible when they were mentioned in the constitution and when we made sure they are carefully respected in practice. We continue our progress in this field, firmly convinced that human rights are indivisible; that we cannot dissociate its elements or favor one over the other, and that democracy is an everyday task that may progress differently from one country to the other, depending upon the realities. As much as we respect those who see things differently than us and welcome all objective assessment, we reject excessive opinions that do not truly reflect Tunisian realities and therefore surely distort the country’s image.We will confidently continue our development on the path of democracy. We are conscious that much remains to be done, but we have set our minds on seeing it through while taking into consideration our realities and the people’s aspirations. Tunisia’s election in the Human Rights Council speaks well of our approach’s relevance and shows the international community’s recognition of our efforts. Regarding the press and the media, we undertook different measures to enrich and diversify the media landscape and increasingly protect freedom of expression. Thus, the Press Bill, endorsed by virtue of Law of 28 April 1975, was amended four times (1988, 1993, 2001 and 2006) to become more liberal, mainly by deleting the crime of slander against public order, and repealing the procedure of registration of copyright for national information publications. The objective of these amendments is to allow journalists to fulfill their role freely and make use of a positive environment to transform the information sector into a space of dialogue, interaction and discussion over themes and issues regarding the country’s future and the defense of its achievements. Moreover, the state subsidized opinion newspapers, mainly those of the opposition, contributing to the revival of an intellectual political life in the country. Radio and TV were also enriched by the launch of totally private radio stations and private TV channels. Since the 1990s, the threat of fundamentalism has loomed. Do you feel today that you were able to protect Tunisia from what has plagued other countries? Deeply convinced that terrorism is a serious threat for global peace and security, we brought to the attention of the international community, since the early 1990s, the necessity of an increased cooperation to counter it. To this end, we called for the UN adoption of a code of conduct committing all countries in a common effort to neutralize this threat. Today, we note a greater international awareness of extremism and terrorism, two threats against all countries with no exception. We continue advocating for a global anti-terrorism approach by attacking the roots of this evil feeding on poverty, exclusion, ignorance, frustration, injustice and inequality in international relations. In Tunisia, we were able to defend ourselves against fundamentalism and terrorism, thanks to a development strategy relying on social justice, reduction of inequalities and support of least favored social strata. We succeeded, because we confirmed the principles of moderation, openness and tolerance. Our education system was entirely reformed. We promoted women’s role in society and consecrated gender equality in rights and duties. The country’s continuous democratization goes on, favoring the emergence of a balanced and homogenous society. Having been a conjunction between many civilizations, our country contributes to the dialogue of cultures and civilizations for a better world where peace, prosperity and security reign.

The situation in the Middle East has never been more worrying: the danger of the breakup of Iraq, the lack of a peace process regarding Palestine … What do you think the future holds?

As you have noted, the dramatic situation in the Middle East remains a source of anxiety for us all, due to the increasing dangers and risks it poses to the region. Therefore, it is important that the international community - mainly influential members of the Quartet [The UN, the US, the EU and Russia] - intensify their efforts and do their best to reactivate the peace process, to reach a just and long-term settlement to the conflict, by establishing a viable Palestinian state, on the basis of the UN resolutions, the road map and the Arab peace initiative. The US administration is deploying much commended efforts for reviving the Middle East peace progress. We hope these efforts, most importantly the [Annapolis] peace conference, lead to proposals that will rekindle hope for a just and long-term peace.When it comes to Iraq, we stand by our guns. We call for mobilizing all possible efforts to end anarchy and violence, daily plaguing this dear country, to favor national reconciliation, preserve Iraq’s unity and territorial integrity and give the Iraqi people the chance to work for national reconstruction.

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