Caretaker PM receives G8 special envoy

Caretaker Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi received, on Tuesday, G8 special envoy for the implementation of Deauville Partnership, Mr. Edouard Balladur. In a statement to TAP news agency, Mr. Balladur said that his visit is part of consultations with the Tunisian authorities on the Deauville Partnership, an initiative taken by France, now chairing the G8 Summit. Mr. Balladur specified that he was in Tunisia, the first stop in his tour, to discuss with the Tunisian authorities the best way to help Tunisia. France's former Premier said that he had several meetings with Tunisian officials, notably the Ministers of Finance and Foreign Affairs and Tunisia's Central Bank Governor. During his talk with Mr. Caid Essebsi, he added, it had been agreed "to submit during a Deauville Partnership countries' ministerial meeting, which is due in the second half of November, a plan resulting from talks held with Gulf countries, partner countries and partnership-recipient countries." The objective, he went on specifying, is to have "an overview of means made available to the recipient countries and the use made of them by these countries." He estimated that it is "important for peoples living through a democratic transition to know that they are assisted and supported, in order to overcome the hardships they are faced with." He highlighted, in this regard, the important ties binding France and Tunisia, reasserting the need that these ties will be further reinforced. The Deauville Partnership defined, during the last G8 Summit, aims to support the Arab Springs' political and economic transitions. It comprises several countries willing to support this transition, the United Nations specialised bodies and international and regional financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the African Development Bank.