The Tunisian Investment Fund (FTI) has granted bonuses and benefits totaling 86.2 million dinars (MD) since the start of its activities in 2022 up to September 30, 2026.
These interventions benefited 345 projects, resulting in the creation of 9,587 jobs, according to the Minister of Economy and Planning, Samir Abdelhafidh.
In response, early Saturday at the Bardo Palace, to questions from the deputies of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People (ARP) and the National Council of Regions and Districts, during the joint plenary session devoted to examining the budget of his department for 2027, the minister clarified that the beneficiary projects are distributed among 284 projects related to regional development, 45 projects in priority sectors, and 10 projects related to infrastructure.
He stressed that the Fund’s second mission is to subscribe to the capital of mutual investment funds, a mechanism that has not followed the same pace of implementation as the awarding of bonuses and advantages.
In this context, the minister reported a financing agreement reached with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (FADES), amounting to 15 million dollars, under a financing line named “Recovery.”
This mechanism aims to help struggling small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access favorable financing in order to restart their activities and preserve jobs, especially in priority sectors and regional development zones.
He added that the draft financing agreement has been submitted to the Assembly of the People’s Representatives since January 23, 2025.
A fund dedicated to regional development
Furthermore, a 10 million dinar envelope was included in the 2026 budget for an equity participation in a development fund.
In this regard, the Tunisian Investment Fund proceeded to structure a regional impact fund, intended to finance projects with economic and social spillovers in the regions, thus contributing to wealth creation and supporting activities adapted to regional characteristics.
The Development Plan 2026-2030 sets out the major economic directions
Moreover, Samir Abdelhafidh stated that the Development Plan 2026-2030 defines the major directions of the development model, as well as the choices, policies and programs that the State intends to implement over the next five years.
The plan also includes a portfolio of projects, updated and finalized each year according to the progress of budget elaboration.
The minister specified that the plan document, composed of three parts, was transmitted to the Assembly of the People’s Representatives and to the National Council of Regions and Districts. It was examined at the committee level and during plenary sessions, before being adopted within a single-article provision of the bill.
He also indicated that the plan’s development, for the first time, relied on a bottom-up approach, considering this experience as a first step on which future plans can build, while drawing lessons from any shortcomings observed during its implementation.
Regarding the portfolio of projects, the ministry’s services, in coordination with the various ministerial departments, are working to collect data on the new projects programmed for 2027 as well as those whose execution began in 2026, in order to ensure monitoring and accelerate their realization.
The minister finally insisted that the Development Plan is not limited to a mere list of projects, but constitutes a framework defining the orientations, policies and development programs.
The projects actually launched are, for their part, determined based on annual programming and the budgetary credits allocated to them.
