Tunisia » International Relations

Membership of International Groupings/Organisations International Monetary Fund (IMF) International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) World Tourism Organisation (WTO) World Health Organisation (WHO) United Nations (UN)

The Tunisia's Relations with International Community

The moderate and open policies adopted by the government of Tunisia have helped it maintain good international relations. Tunisia’s foreign policy focuses on the need for regional security and friendly relations to promote trade and foreign investment that enhances the economic strength. Tunisia is a member of WTO, United Nations, UNESCO, Arab Maghreb Union, IMF and World Trade Organisation (WtrO). Tunisia can boast of being the first Mediterranean country to enter in a free trade area with EU making EU Tunisia’s first trading partner. It enjoys close relations with Europe and United States as well as Arab countries. It also plays an important part in the Arab and African regional bodies. Moderate policies of Tunisia have earned it respect and made it a credible partner in regional and international affairs. It has been a strong supporter of the Middle East Peace Process. PLO had its headquarters in Tunisia in the early 1980s. During the time the peace progress began between the PLO and Israel, Tunisia also responded with positivity to normalize Tunisia’s relations with Israel. Relations of Tunisia with Maghreb countries improved in the 1980s. Tunisians played an important role in the formation of the Union of the Arab Maghreb in 1989 including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

Tunisia’s relation with its neighbours Algeria and Libya are smooth although there have been periods of strained relations between the countries. Tunisia has made efforts to maintain healthy relation s with Algeria as well as Libya as a result of which it has trading ties with Libya .Tunisia and Japan share good diplomatic and trading relations. France and Tunisia share historic ties and are linked to one another through continuous exchanges. Today France is a leading trade partner of Tunisia. There are many French companies in Tunisia. Tunisia has been a strong supporter of UN peace keeping missions and has also participated in such missions.

Relations with the United Kingdom

Tunisia and UK enjoy full diplomatic relations. Both the countries are working on different areas like trade, investment, culture, tourism to strengthen co-operation. According to figures in 2008 the trade between UK and Tunisia doubled. British Council in Tunisia is playing an important role in promoting the English language in the country. Exports of good from UK to Tunisia are estimated to be £218 million for the year 2008 as for the UK imports from Tunisia are recorded to be worth £395 million in 2008.  Main British companies in Tunisia are British Gas that is the largest British investor in Tunisia, GlaxoSmithKline and Coates Viyella.