Announcement of Tunisia Sets Up Employment and Training Fund on September 7, 1990

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. *Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 91/10 Contact: Fawzi Rihane (202) 473-2675 TUNISIA SETS UP EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING FUND WASHINGTON, September 7, 1990 -- Tunisia is setting up a fund that will help adapt the country's labor force to rapidly changing job patterns as well as provide employment-and income-generating opportunities to the poor, undereducated and chronically unemployed. The World Bank has approved a loan of $12 million to support the fund. The regionally based Employment and Training Fund will finance activities geared toward placing people in jobs and increasing workers' productivity. Institutional development efforts will focus on supporting the efforts of the Office of Vocational Training and Employment (OFPE) to make its operations more effective and efficient and strengthen key OFPE services--including selection and placement of trainees, information and counseling for job-seekers, and labor-market monitoring. The fund is expected to train and find jobs for about 30,000 people over three-years. The ability of domestic and foreign enterprises to mobilize and reallocate skilled workers more rapidly as a result of the project will stimulate investment and generate additional jobs. The $35 million project will receive other financial support from the government, participating enterprises and the United States Agency for International Development. The World Bank loan is for 17 years including five years' grace, with a variable interest rate, currently 7.72 percent, linked to the cost of the Bank's borrowings. It also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.25 percent on the undisbursed balance. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.