More than 10,000 of them have followed the debate that took place in semi-presential on Tuesday, April 26, 2022 focused on the topic : How to mobilize the private sector to develop a sustainable blue economy?
This rendez-vous was built around exchanges with four guests: Mouna Ben Halima, CEO Hotel La Badira, Claude Miguet, General Manager CMR, Aly Ben Smida, CEO of Nottoy Boat and Paul Holthus, President & CEO of World Ocean Council.
The debate was moderated by Rym Benzina, President of the organization La Saison Bleue and Mehdi Ben Haj, Vice-President.
" A potential which is poorly exploited, with a lack of vision from policymakers and public institutions ".
The figures speak for themselves: more than 1300 km of coastline, from Tabarka to Zarzis, about forty fishing ports and marinas, more than 9 million tourists visiting the coasts during the summer, 95,000 direct jobs and 290,000 indirect jobs in the maritime sector, 90% of foreign trades of the country being carried out by sea, a GDP surrounding the 12th ...
How to explain that despite the richness of this maritime heritage and this strategic position in the heart of the Mediterranean, Tunisia continues to ignore the sea?
Mouna Ben Halima focused on the role of the hotel industry in the sustainable blue economy: "the cursor is difficult to place between the economic goal and the sustainable development ....
Our role is to enhance our coastline and preserve it. We are faced with an inaction of public institutions that do not fulfill their role in the preservation and development of the coastline ...
Our correspondence to request the authorities concerned to save the beaches of Hammamet remain unanswered!” Mouna Ben Halima deplores the fact that the Tunisian authorities have abandoned the certification of local beaches by the label "Pavillon bleu", recalling in passing the economic role of tourism for many Tunisian families and wondering about some aberrations: "how can Tunisian hotels be competitive in the Mediterranean when they can not even meet the demands of their customers for the rental of boats? Tourism and boating however go hand in hand!
Aly Ben Smida reviewed the story of the launching company Nottoy Boat: "we launched in the construction of our own boats with a strong ecological vision, through modern technologies, allowing to have lighter models and less energy-consuming with electric motors," and this in a vision of respect for the sea for a sustainable blue economy.
Confirming that the boating sector was in the starting-blocks, waiting for a sign of public authorities that still does not come.
"Not only the State does not encourage this sector of growth but on the contrary overwhelms it with taxes, a very restrictive legislative framework, imposing very off-putting authorizations ...
The blue economy has unfortunately passed under the radar of public power.”
Aly Ben Smida suggests several proposals to promote the boating sector while protecting the coastline:
• Set up mooring areas to allow boaters to moor without scraping the seabed
• Reviewing the legal framework for boating and facilitating the procedures
• Think about a long-term blue economy
• Create a task force between the different actors (yachting, hotel industry, shipyard) to bring a global vision to the authorities
Claude Miguet, the unique industrialist specializing in ship repair in North Africa, said: "We are strongly committed to sustainability and environmental protection, applying in particular the rules of the International Maritime Organization which works in the field of prevention of ocean pollution and waste disposal at sea.
As such, in our shipyards, we modernize ships that were built before the latest environmental protection rules were implemented, we install systems to clean the fumes and avoid the release of sulfur into the atmosphere, as well as to treat ballast water.
The fact that the boats are repaired in dry docks allows us to recover and sort out all the waste, especially sheet metal and copper, as well as to evacuate polluted waste - bilge water with oils, etc. - to approved treatment centers.
Despite this commitment, Claude Miguet points out the total lack of knowledge of this activity in Tunisia and denounces the taxes that penalize this sector since 2016, up to 22%.
His company is however a competitive core with the rest of the European shipyards. "Many Italian or French boats come for repair or maintenance in Tunisia, while the Tunisian boats prefer to go abroad and pay this service in foreign currency. It is incomprehensible and expensive," says the founder of CMR.
Paul Holthus presents the role of the World Ocean Council: "an organization that brings together all companies, of all sizes and in all sectors, to work at the national, regional and international levels on the subjects of governance, spatial planning and ocean management".
A major American player, federating all maritime economic circles on an international scale, the World Ocean Council thus supports Aly Ben Smida's proposal to create task forces in order to convince political decision-makers to work towards a long-term sustainable blue economy.
In the era of the 21st century, that of maritimization, Tunisia must offer a long-term vision for a sustainable blue economy. As stated by the Head of Government Najla Bouden in February 11 in Brest at the One Ocean Summit, "the sea is a cultural heritage of Tunisia, the main engine of its economy and an important source of income for a large part of its population.
Based on this principle, policymakers must therefore consult without delay with the various actors of the private sector for the implementation of structural reforms and an appropriate legislative framework.
They must also ensure the improvement of the business environment in order to boost investment, while respecting the goals of the United Nations' ODD14.
