The
rise of a man of the people
Zine
El Abidine Ben Ali has been head of state
in the Republic of Tunisia since 1987. He
is the second president in the history of
the country since its independence in
1956.
President Ben Ali was born September 3,
1936, in Hammam-Sousse (Sahel). He
graduated from the Inter-Arms School of
Saint-Cyr in France and subsequently
earned several diplomas from the Artillery
School at Chalons-sur-Marne, and from the
Senior Intelligence School at Fort
Holabird, Maryland, and the School for
Field and Anti-Aircraft at Fort Bliss,
Texas (USA). After also having obtained an
electronic engineering diploma, M. Ben Ali
became head of the military security
department at the Ministry of Defence
(1958). He headed this department for 16
years before being appointed Defence,
Military, Naval and Air Attaché in
Morocco and Spain in 1974. He occupied
these functions until 1977. |
|
In
December 1977, he was appointed Director-General of
National Security, after serving briefly as
Assistant to the Minister of Defence. During the
"bread riots" in January 1984, he was
recalled from his function as Ambassador to Poland
in order to become Head of National Security. He
went on to develop a remarkable career at the
Ministry of the Interior : in October, 1984, he was
appointed Secretary of State for National Security
and, in October 1985 Minister for National Security.
In April 1986 he became Minister of the Interior.
A militant member of the Neo-Destour (New
Constitution) movement ever since he was 16 years
old, he became member of the political bureau of the
Destourian Socialist Party (PSD) in 1986 and made it
to the level of Deputy-Secretary-General.
In May 1987, he was appointed Minister of State for
the Interior.
In October of that year he became Prime Minister,
while retaining the portfolio of the Ministry of the
Interior. He concurrently became Secretary-General
of the PSD.
On November 7, 1987, M. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ,
Prime Minister acceded to the Presidency, after
President Habib Bourguiba was declared
"senile" and unfit to carry out the duties
of the Highest Executive Office.
At the same time, M. Ben Ali became President of the
Destourian Socialist Party. He changed its name in
1988 to the Democratic
Constitutional Assembly (RCD).
At the presidential elections of March 20, 1994, M.
Ben Ali was re-elected with an overwhelming majority
for another period of 5 years. He was awarded the
ribbon of the Order of Independence and the ribbon
of the Order of the Republic, as well as the great
ribbon of the Order of November 7.
President Ben Ali is married and father to five
children.
Farida
Elias – La Presse Française
Top
GDP: US$43.3 billion
GDP per head: US$4800
Growth
rate :
6,5 % in 1998.
Inflation rate : 4,6 % of the consumer price
index (1995).
Unemployment rate : 13 % (1998).
Agriculture products : grain, barley, olives
and fruits including citrus fruits.
Breeding : 3 563 000 ovine, 750 000 caprine,
339 000 bovine (1994).
Fishing : 87 000 tons of fish (10 kg/inhab.)
in 1995.
Forestry : 3,32 million m3 average cut per
year.
Industry : food (6,6 % of the added
industrial value), textile 7 %, chemical 12 %
(1995).
Petroleum : 4 215 million tons in 1995.
Mines : phosphates, 9,5 million tons in 1995.
Tourism : 6 119 847 entries in 1998 (+ 6,7
%). Receipt : 1 822,9 billion Dollars (+ 0,4 %).
Number of beds : 161 500 in 1995 (200 000 in the
year 2000).
Top
Finance
Budget (1996, previsions in million
Dinars) :
in return and in receipt 7 230 million Dollars.
Investments : 4 805 million Dinars in 1996
(+ 12 %).
Total external aid : 107 million Dollars
(net payments, 1994).
Balance of payments : - 354 million Dollars
in 1994.
Total foreign debt : 9,2 billion Dollars
(1995). 60,8 % of GNP.
Burden of debt : 1,5 billion Dollars (1995).
20,4 % of export of products and services.
Top
Foreign
Trade
Export of products and services :
7,683 billion Dollars in 1995.
Import of products and services :
8,2 billion Dollars in 1995.
Most important imported products :
mechanical and electrical equipment (35 %), textile
and leather (25,2 %).
Most important exported products :
textile and leather (49,9 %), energy (8,4 %), food
(7,4 %).
Principal suppliers : France (25,6 %), Italy
(15,4 %), Germany (12,5 %), Belgium (4,4 %), USA
(5,1 %).
Principal clients : France (28,1 %), Italy
(18,7 %), Germany (5,5 %), Belgium (6,5 %).
Top
Road
network :
20 000 km classified routes including more than 12
400 asphalt.
Railroads : 2 190 km in 1991.
Principal ports : Tunis-La Goulette, Sfax, Sousse, Bizerte, Skhira
(petroleum port).
Principal
airports :
Tunis-Carthage, Djerba, Monastir, Tozeur, Sfax,
Tabarka.
Telephone : 563 000 lines in 1996
(6,3 lines for 100 inhab.).
Top
The principal
forms of business enterprises in Tunisia are:
Limited companies
The provisions
concerning limited companies are contained in the
Tunisian Business Code Act of 1959.
Limited companies
may be public or private. A private company is
prohibited from inviting the general public to
subscribe for its shares, the number of its partners
is not limited. There is no requirement for the
financial statements of these companies to be
audited.
A public company,
as its name suggests, may offer its shares to the
general public. It cannot have less than seven
members. There is no maximum number of members and
its shares are freely transferable. The financial
statements of the public limited companies are
submitted to be audited by a chartered accountant.
Partnerships
The law relating
to partnerships is contained in the business code
Act of 1959. The number of partners is not
restricted. Each member is jointly and severally
liable for all debts incurred. Partnerships are not
required by law to appoint auditors nor do
partnerships financial statements have to be
published. The death, resignation or retirement of
any individual partner does not dissolve a
partnership unless the partnership agreement
provides otherwise.
Branches of
foreign companies
A company
incorporated outside Tunisia may carry on business
in Tunisia through a branch. In order to establish a
branch the following documents must be submitted to
the registrar of companies:
Joint Ventures
Joint ventures
with Government owned agencies are encouraged. These
may be conducted as a partnership or as limited
companies in which all the parties are shareholders.
Top
The income tax law
is contained in the Income Tax Act 1989, under which
companies and individuals are taxed. Taxation
changes/amendments to the Act are normally announced
by the Minister of Finance in his Budget speech
delivered in December each year.
Corporate Taxes
Tunisian income
tax is payable at the rate of 35% by companies. Many
foreign investments and businesses gain special tax
advantages. For a description of such benefits,
please see the relevant section on Incentives.
Individual Taxes
Individuals, like
companies, are liable to Tunisian income tax only on
income arising in Tunisia. However, in the case of
income from employment received by a resident
individual, the whole of that income is deemed to
arise in Tunisia, whether the duties of employment
are performed in Tunisia or abroad and wherever the
income is paid. In effect therefore, a resident
individual is liable for Tunisian income tax on his
worldwide employment income.
A non-resident is
liable for Tunisian income tax at the normal
graduate rates on income from employment with a
resident employer, or a Tunisian permanent
establishment of a non-resident employer.
A non-resident is
liable for the various flat rate withholding taxes.
Companies and
individuals should find out about any double
taxation agreements that may be in force between
Tunisia and their respective governments.
VAT
| VAT |
%
|
| Regular Rate |
17
|
| Certain Luxury
Goods |
29
|
| |
10
|
| Priority Goods |
6
|
Consumption Tax
Varies greatly
according to the item
Professional
Training Tax
Manufacturing
Industries - 1% on all salaries paid to employees
Others - 2% on all
salaries paid to employees
Social Security
Charges
| |
%
|
| By Employers |
19.00
|
| By Employees |
7.25
|
Top
A new investment
code, covering all economic sectors with the
exception of mining, energy, domestic trade and the
financial sector, came into effect at the beginning
of January 1994. The new investment code reinforces
the freedom to invest. It provides common incentives
to all sectors :
-
Tax exemption of
35% on income earned and reinvested in
Tunisia.
-
Suspension of VAT
on capital goods.
-
Reduction of
custom duties up to 10%, on imported equipment
having no similar equipment manufactured in
Tunisia.
-
Possibility of
choosing an accelerated depreciation system
for capital goods with an accounting life
exceeding seven years.
It also provides
additional incentives for investment according to
the following priorities :
-
Export
-
Regional
development
-
Agricultural
development
-
Environmental
protection
-
Technology
transfers
The most important
additional incentives concern :
-
Export: Exporting companies enjoy the
possibility of importing all necessary capital
goods and production inputs custom duty free.
They are also fully exempt from income tax for
the first ten years of activity with 50%
reduction in income tax thereafter.
-
Regional development: Projects in industry, tourism and
certain industry related services which are
set up in regional development areas, receive
an investment grant of 7% of the project cost,
a State participation in the infrastructural
expenses and five years full payment of the
employer s contribution to social security
schemes. They are also fully exempt from
income tax for the first ten years of activity
and benefit from a 50% reduction on income tax
for an additional ten years.
-
Agricultural and
fishing companies receive an investment grant
of 7% for large scale projects and are fully
exempt from income tax for the first ten years
of activity.
-
Environment: Projects in the protection of the
environment receive an investment grant of 20%
of the project cost and can import duty free
all necessary equipment that is not
manufactured in Tunisia.
-
Foreign
investments and partnerships are strongly
encouraged in Tunisia as a complement to local
investment efforts.
-
Foreign investors
benefit from the incentives laid out in the
investment code and can hold up to 100% of the
project capital without prior authorisation,
except for non-wholly exporting service
industries which are subject to authorisation
in the foreign participation exceeding 50% of
the capital.
-
Ownership of
agricultural land which can be leased by
foreign investors for up to 40 years.
-
Foreign investors
also benefit from the off-shore status of
wholly exporting companies.
-
Companies in the
form of off-shore factories which can be set
up anywhere in Tunisia.
-
Within a free
trade zone. Two free zones are now being set
up in Tunisia, one in Bizerte in the north of
the country, and the other in Zarzis in the
south of the country.
-
Besides these
incentives, foreign investors in Tunisia
benefit from a set of a multilateral, and
bilateral guarantees such as Tunisia s
adhesion to MIGA (Multilateral Investment
Guarantee Agency) and to the New York
convention with respect to arbitration
sentences, and from a number of investment
protection and non- double taxation
agreements.
Top
With the
introduction in 1993 of the convertibility of the
Tunisian Dinar for current transactions, the
transfer of the capital invested by the
non-residents by means of foreign currency, and the
revenue it bears, is guaranteed.
Top
Residence and Work
Permits
Foreign employees
must obtain work permits and residence permits.
Work Permits
These are obtained
from the Ministry of Social Affairs. The employee
must provide a resume, diplomas and transcripts
certifying his or her qualifications, and a
passport. The work permit comes in the form of a
stamp in the employee s passport and is valid for
one year. In order to renew the permit, a separate
form must be filled out at the Ministry of Social
Affairs.
Residence Permits
Once the work
permit has been obtained, the employee must apply
for a residence permit from the Interior Ministry.
It is also valid for one year and is renewed after
the employee has secured the new work permit.
Top
|