| COUNTRY PERSPECTIVES
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TUNISIA |
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Success story |
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Italy’s Benetton reinforces its industrial presence in Tunisia |
'Born in 1965, the Benetton Group is today present in 120 countries around the world. Its core business is fashion apparel: a group with a strong Italian character whose style, quality and passion are clearly seen in its brands. The development of Benetton’s commercial network, characterised by prestigious locations in historic and commercial centres and by the high level of customer services offered, has been supported by a major programme of investment worldwide.
Tunisia was, and remains, a key element of our investment strategy. Our group made the decision to begin manufacturing in the Tunisian industrial district in 1995, due to a series of encouraging factors, such as the specific skills of the country’s textiles sector and the advantageous price-to-quality ratio of local labour, all within a context close to our own: both geographically and culturally.In the medium to long term, other success factors have been Tunisia’s social and economic stability, and a policy that is very open to foreign investment. In 2008, we invested over EUR 20 million in a new factory for manufacturing cotton-knit fabrics: the new 20 000 m2 factory, based in the Sahline area, is able to produce 3.6 million kilos of local lines a year and ensure greater cost efficiency.
Our activity in the Kasserine area is a tangible example of how much this partnership with regional state institutes and private Tunisian enterprises has managed to achieve. In just one year, we have encouraged Tunisian business people to launch numerous manufacturing initiatives: there are now over 30 activities in the area, giving work to at least 3 000 people and producing 15 million garments by the end of 2008.
At present our Group generates employment in Tunisia, directly and indirectly, for approximately 10 000 people.
In the future, we plan to intensify our industrial and trade relations with Tunisia. This is a growth process on which we are keenly and optimistically focused and which also includes the commercial aspect, with over 10 Benetton shops now open in the country.'
Alessandro Benetton
Executive Deputy Chairman Benetton Group SpA
To download the booklet "Entrepreneurs’ success stories" Part 1 / To download the booklet "Entrepreneurs’ success stories" Part 2 |
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The Spanish group Uniland invests in the Enfidha cement plants |
In 1998, in the context of the privatisation programme, four of the country's six cement plants were sold to private foreign operators. The Spanish group Uniland acquired the Enfidha cement company for 120 million dinars (87,1 % of the capital, the balance is held by the Banque islamique de développement ). The operation provided immediate access to a share of the country's market. The long term objective is to position the Tunisian site as a strategic base for regional deployment.
The Enfidha Cement Company's plant is located at Ain M'Dhaker, 10 km from the town of Enfidha, North of the governorship of Sousse. 190 million dinars have been invested to modernise the first production line and to create a second, with an annual capacity of 600,000 tonnes. An overall programme to bring the plant up to the standards of the group has also been initiated (computerisation, stock management, respect for the environment).
At the same time, the Uniland group, which had a turnover in 2002 of 380 million euros, is present in the concrete business through its subsidiary Select Béton, a company belonging 100 % to the Enfidha Cement Company. The Tunisian concrete market is in full expansion, is modernising and becoming automated. With four production plants, Select Béton is the leader in the sector. These sites « also have mobile plants ready to participate in any type of large undertaking which require an " in situ " plant, underlines the company.
«The main objective of the Uniland Group in Tunisia is to position itself as the reference in terms of quality and services » states the group, whose Head Office is in Barcelona. Select Béton S.A. is « the only Tunisian concrete manufacturing company which has three certifications of quality available in the country: NT certification (product), ISO 9000 certification (production systems) and BVQi certification (procedures) ».
For Uniland, as for the other players in the market, there remains one long-awaited changeto be made: the complete liberalisation of cement prices which remain under public control. |
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