Committee of Tunisians’ Affairs Abroad held a hearing for World Bank representatives to discuss a report about the strong love of expatriates to their countries, and how can this be useful.

The WB representatives mentioned the important role played by the expatriate in increasing investment, as they referred to studies showing that, trade and investment can be strengthen with the present of an active expatriate. They added that, the lack of investment in Tunisia is due to the lack of political and security stability in the country, saying that real estates and direct investment are the most prominent fields. They also asked the government to provide the expatriates with the right circumstances to make them invest in their own country.

The committee members confirmed that, immigration became economic rather than social, and the European countries are trying to attract all Tunisian experts, which helps worsen the country conditions. They said, it is necessary to study and analyze all given date to create solutions, and asked the representatives to do full studies, concerning the right investment conditions, along with recommendations to deal with this issue.
 
The representatives said that, Tunisian immigrants exceeded one million and the government should do its best to create investment fields for them. Parliament members also asked to study new ways to support economy through Tunisian expatriates, as they are considered one of the most important foreign incomes. They also blamed the government for not taking proper care of their citizens.

On the top of the list that has Tunisian remittances abroad is France with 715 million dollar, after that is Germany and Italy. The foreign countries attract 83% of Tunisians, while the Arab countries only attract 15%. There are 2.6% of them in the United States and 0.11% in Africa.

Economic experts said that, there are a lot of ways to benefit from Tunisians abroad, especially that most of them are in legal and stable position to invest and help domestic economy. On the hand, the expatriates complain about the difficulty of the procedures, and the attempt of blackmailing they face by the officials, which make them lose any interest in investment.