Algeria and Tunisia explore opportunities to promote their business relationships by hoisting the preferential trade agreement between the two countries to the Arab free trade zone (AFTA), and study the lifting of certain restrictions relating to customs duties, said Sunday in Algiers Algerian and Tunisian trade ministers.
  "The meeting allowed both parties to make a first assessment of the implementation of the preferential trade agreement between Algeria and Tunisia, which came into force in  last March," said Benyounes at a press conference after meeting with his Tunisian counterpart, Nadjla Harouche.
According to Benyounes, issues related to trade were also discussed by the two parties which decided to meet in Tunis in September to assess the preferential trade agreement between the two countries and present solutions to some questions alluding to the difficulties encountered by some Algerian economic operators to access the Tunisian market despite the advantages provided by the agreement.
"There are still some problems to solve. We agreed to find ways to solve the instructions submitted to the experts following the implementation of the trade agreement in view of the next meeting," stressed Benyounes.
 For her part, the Tunisian minister said that the strains recorded under this agreement would be lifted to strengthen exchanges and facilitate the work of operators of the two countries.
"We agreed on all issues including problems within the framework of the bilateral agreement. I'm not talking about a problem but ordinary commercial constraints that can occur between two countries," said the Tunisian minister.
Also, Harouche also noted that she discussed with her Algerian counterpart revision of tariffs in the hope that both parties can offer under the preferential agreement, the same benefits under the Agreement Establishing the GAFTA.