PR 96/34 - TUNISIA AND FAO SIGN ACCORD

TUNISIA AND FAO SIGN ACCORD TO OPEN AN FAO SUBREGIONAL OFFICE FOR NORTH AFRICA IN TUNIS

Rome/Tunis, 8 August 1996 -- Tunisia and the UN Food and Agriculture Oragnization (FAO) recently signed an accord to create Tunis a new FAO Subregional Office in Tunis to serve North Africa.

The office's principal duty will be assisting the countries of the subregion to reinforce their agriculture sectors through expert advice on general policy matters, strengthening institutions and better use of human resources.

The countries served are: Algeria, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia. In the five countries of the sub-region FAO has about 50 projects underway valued at $60 million.

Since 1990, the FAO's Investment Centre has prepared 37 wide-ranging rural development projects in the five countries of the sub-region, with a potential total investment of about $2.8 million. Outside funding comes from the World Bank, the African Bank for Development, IFAD and other multilateral financial institutions.

The Subregional Office in Tunis will be staffed by some 18 people and will report on its activities to the FAO Regional Office for the Near East in Cairo.