Qatar will support Tunisia’s economic and social development with US$1.25 billion in investments over the next five years, the Emir has announced.

During a conference in Tunis yesterday, Sheikh Tamim said economic development will help solve the country’s unemployment issues, QNA reports.

He added:

“We have people in Tunisia who decided to build their country on the basis of pluralism, human dignity and freedom, as well as on the basis of the common denominator between the political forces, i.e., the interests of Tunisia, away from tyranny.

Are we going to help them to make their experiment a success or to stand idly by to watch them facing difficulties alone and to come later to look into the reasons for despair and frustration and their ensuing destructive results?”

Employment

During his first state visit to Qatar in May, President Beji Caid Essebsi highlighted youth unemployment as a key challenge facing Tunisia.

At the time, Essebi’s minister for employment said the government was keen on increasing the number of Tunisia laborers working in Qatar.

Currently, some 20,000 Tunisian nationals live and work here, a figure that has quintupled since 2012.

Yesterday, other countries including Saudi Arabia, France and Turkey also pledged millions of dollars to support Tunisia’s government transition following the 2011 revolution.

Thoughts?