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Tunisia keen on pushing forth relations with Kuwait -- Minister

KUN0021 4 GEN 0350 FRANCE /AFP -HDN1 ECO-TUNISIA-KUWAIT Tunisia keen on pushing forth relations with Kuwait -- Minister By Nasser Al-Mutair (with photos) TUNIS, Nov 10 (KUNA) -- Tunisia is keen on pushing forth relations with Kuwait at all levels, and especially in the economic, commercial, and investment sectors, said Tunisian Minister of Development and International Cooperation Mohammad Nouri Jouini. Speaking to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on the sidelines of the visit of Kuwaiti Minister of Commerce and Industry Falah Al-Hajri, the minister said that meeting with Al-Hajri was an opportunity to evaluate bilateral economic cooperation. "I agreed with the Kuwaiti Minister that there is a need to boost relations and to bring them to the level of the distinctive political relations that bind the two countries," he said. He added that there were "joint views" over the need to point out the track toward increasing cooperation opportunities and removing all obstacles hindering the achievement of this goal. It was agreed, Jouini said, that a Kuwaiti-Tunisian team of experts would be formed within the already existing joint committee to determine areas that required greater commercial cooperation. Jouini said he was "totally convinced" that projects that would be announced soon as part of Tunisia's five-year plan would provide a great opportunity for Kuwaiti investors and businessmen. On the volume of Kuwaiti investment in his country, Jouini said he was satisfied with it but wished it would be further expanded. In the first day of his visit to Tunisia, Al-Hajri met Tunisian Minister of Trade and Handicrafts Mondher Zenaidi, Minister of Industry, Energy, Small and Medium-Size Enterprises Afif Chelbi, and Minister of Development and International Cooperation Mohamed Nouri Jouini. He is further scheduled to meet with Minister of Tourism Tijani Haddad. The Kuwaiti Minister, who arrived in Tunis Wednesday evening, will be inaugurating the Kuwaiti pavilion at the Tunisia International Fair 2006 which is held under the auspices of Prime Minister Mohammad Ghannouchi.(end) nm.ema KUNA 101255 Nov 06NNNN