FDIs drop by 35.5%

The Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) reached 1436.7 million Tunisian dinars (MTD), at the end of the first eleven months of 2011, recording a drop of 35.5 % compared with 2010, a year during the country attracted investments of about 2227.3 MTD. According to the last statistics released by the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) for the January-November 2011 period, the FDIs decreased by 31.7%, at 1360.6 MTD, and those in portfolios sharply fell by 67.6%, at 76.1 MTD. Analysis of the FDIs by sector reveals a concentration in the energy sector (900 MTD) and manufacturing industries (296.7 MTD). The decreases have mainly been suffered by the sectors of tourism (-87.5%), manufactured industries (-43.8%) and energy (-28%). Contrarily to the other sectors, the services activities have posted a good showing, with a rise of 20.7 % of investments during the first eleven months of 2011, as they went up to 150.7 MTD. An analysis of the distribution of the FDIs inflow shows a strong concentration in the mechanical, electric and electronic industries, which rank first with the achievement of 98 projects, for investments worth 139.5 MTD and the creation of 3,276 jobs, followed by textile and dressing industries, with 71 new projects and the creation of 3,184 jobs. The distribution of the FDIs inflow by country shows that France remains the largest foreign investor in number of projects (127 enterprises started operation), at an invested amount of 168.9 MTD, and the jobs created stand at 3,265 jobs. Italy ranks second with 85 new projects, for a total of 64.2 MTD invested and 2,896 jobs created. Germany is in the third rank with 18 achieved projects for 36 MTD of investments and 1,635 jobs created. The number projects from Arab countries stands at 19, centering essentially in the services sector, for total investments worth 129.4 MTD and creating 105 jobs.