President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's new year address to Diplomatic Corps
Carthage , January 24th, 2008
''In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate,
Mr.Doyen,
Your excellencies,
It is my distinct pleasure, at the outset of the New year, to express to you my sincere congratulations, and to ask you to convey my best wishes of continued success and happiness to the leaders of your respective countries, and of progress and prosperity to your peoples.
I would like to thank his excellency the Doyen of the diplomatic corps for his expressions of friendship towards Tunisia and its people, and to pay tribute to the commendable efforts you all exert to further promote the relations of co-operation between Tunisia and your sisterly and friendly countries.
Mr.Doyen,
Your excellencies,
The previous year was rich in national events. Our country celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic which represented a historic gain that laid the ground for building the modern state and anchoring our national tenets and choices. Our people also celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Change of November, 7, 1987, which constituted a propitious opportunity to review the achievements which our country has accomplished as part of the process of reform and development, and to explore the prospects for a better future for our young generations.
Over two decades of change, Tunisia has achieved numerous gains and successes at all levels, as part of a comprehensive civilisational and political project, and in line with the principles of the republic and the values of rule of law.
Democracy and pluralism have been anchored.
The human rights culture has been disseminated in society.
Our national economy has achieved a high pace of growth.
We have strengthened the ties of solidarity in our society which has a deep sense of its identity while being open on modernity and on the values of global understanding, dialogue and tolerance it carries.
This year, we will endeavour to further promote the system of human rights and fundamental freedoms in our country, in consolidation of our national choices in this field and in line with the constant principles underlying our reform process.
In this regard, we will ensure the further evolution of the higher committee for human rights and fundamental freedoms by elevating the provisions organising it to the level of law, by endowing it, as a national human rights institution, with its administrative and financial autonomy, by reviewing its composition in such a way as to strengthen communication between the state and civil society components, and by consolidating its prerogatives in order to assert its role in the promotion and protection of human rights.
Mr. Doyen,
Your Excellencies,
During the previous year, we intensified our efforts to complete the implementation of the objectives stated in our Programme for Tomorrow's Tunisia , by taking numerous initiatives and decisions in various strategic fields and promising sectors.
We have endeavoured to further enlarge the scope of participation in public life.
We have pursued our action to support political parties and their press, and to reinforce the participation of youth and the presence of women in all fields of public life.
We have also endeavoured to enhance the role of all civil society components, and to promote the media landscape in order to reinforce freedom of expression and enrich the culture of diversity.
We have firmly pursued our development process, despite the fluctuations of the world economy and the excessive rise in prices of oil, raw materials and cereals. We have managed to preserve the dynamism of our national economy which has constantly grown at a high pace, and has achieved positive results that have been confirmed by the reports of international rating institutions.
We have consolidated Tunisia 's position as a regional centre attracting investments.
We have established programmes and plans to promote employment, particularly as part of the 11th Development Plan and its major projects.
The strides our country has accomplished in the process of modernisation and progress prompt us to step into the coming stage with confidence and optimism.
In the same way as we rely, in this endeavour, on our own efforts, we also rely on co-operation with our partners within a context of mutual respect and common interest.
We have endeavoured to promote the relations of fraternity and co-operation with all sisterly and friendly countries, and to further consolidate our country's integration within the various regional and international spaces to which it belongs.
Our Maghreb region ranks first among these spaces, as it constitutes for us a strategic choice and a priority in our foreign policy.
We are keen, jointly with our brothers the Leaders of Maghreb countries, on intensifying efforts in order to overcome the temporary difficulties facing the Maghreb Union.
We are also determined to further activate joint Arab action, to promote the process of development and modernisation in the Arab region, and to help harmonise and unify viewpoints and positions regarding all fundamental issues, in the forefront of which the Palestinian Cause.
In this context, Tunisia supports all efforts to reactivate the peace process and reach a fair settlement for the Palestinian Cause; thus allowing the brotherly Palestinian people to establish its independent state, and providing security and peace for all peoples of the region.
On the other hand, we call for joining regional and international efforts in order to put an end to the suffering of the brotherly Iraqi people, so that it can undertake the reconstruction of its country within a context of consensus, unity and stability.
We also support all Arab endeavours concerning the situation in Lebanon , and welcome all initiatives aimed at helping the brotherly Lebanese people achieve consensus and preserve its unity, security and stability. At the African level, Tunisia continues to strengthen the relations of fraternity and co-operation with all the countries of the continent, to promote joint African action, and to contribute to the process of establishing the institutions of the African Union and promoting security, stability and development in our continent.
Our country is also keen on promoting dialogue and cooperation between the African space and a number of neighbouring regional groupings.
In this context, it has actively contributed to the success of the Africa-EU Summit recently held in Lisbon .
Given the strategic importance of our relations with the European Union, Tunisia is keen on further promoting the relations of fraternity and co-operation with this space at the bilateral and multilateral levels, and on developing and enriching them in all fields.
Tunisia's entry, at the beginning of this year, into the free trade zone with the European Union will contribute to further enlarging and diversifying the platform of joint co-operation, and to promoting it to the level of a comprehensive and multidimensional partnership.
Tunisia supports the various frameworks of Euro- Mediterranean co-operation, such as the 5+5 Dialogue and the Barcelona Process.
It has welcomed the French initiative for the establishment of a Mediterranean union, and is endeavouring to contribute to elaborating a coherent conception of this union, of its objectives, and of the process of its activation.
On the other hand, we express our satisfaction with the dynamism which, in recent years, has characterised our relations with the American and Asian continents, and we are keen on further enriching and promoting these relations in all fields.
Tunisia also sustains all UN efforts aimed at promoting security and peace in the world, meeting common international challenges, and accomplishing its role in disseminating the values of solidarity and dialogue among peoples, civilisations, cultures and religions.
In this regard, Tunisia hosted, during the previous year, a number of international conferences and meetings, of which we particularly mention the "International Solidarity Conference on Climate Change Strategies for African and Mediterranean Countries", and the "the International Conference on Terrorism" held in response to our call for unifying the international community's efforts and deepening its awareness as to the need to stand against this serious phenomenon and address its root causes.
Tunisia, which chairs this year the "United Nations Conference on Disarmament" in Geneva, is determined to assume its responsibility as best as possible, and to contribute to promoting constructive dialogue and international consensus on the ways and means to consolidate security and peace in the world, relying, in this endeavour, on the capital of confidence and on the mutual respect characterising our relations with all sisterly and friendly countries.
Mr. Doyen,
Your Excellencies,
We hope the New Year will be of good omen to all humanity.
We also hope the international community will have a deeper awareness of the importance of adopting dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation in their mutual relations, and will join its efforts to face common challenges and to build a more just and more balanced world of security, stability and solidarity-based development.
To conclude, I am pleased to reiterate to you my warmest congratulations on the advent of the New Year, wishing you sustained health, happiness and success.
Many happy returns!
Thank you for your attention.''
Tunisia
ranking in recent World Reports