Tunis – Cooperation between Italy and Tunisia receives a new boost thanks to the Italian Steering Committee for Cooperation and Development, which recently approved the project “Complementary actions in the region of Rjim Maatoug” for a value of €2.457 million. The activities are part of the government program to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of the Rjim Maatoug region, in southern Tunisia. The Italian Cooperation has been in the area for 20 years with a project to seed and cultivate date groves, funded with approximately €17 million. The actions foreseen in the framework of this new socio-economic initiative focus on strengthening the technical, organizational and management capabilities of the region’s inhabitants and their organizations on the development of infrastructure. The end goal is to improve the quality of life, and enable the establishment of new economic activities and access to financing instruments to implement projects. The goal will also be reached thanks to the establishment of a €1 million fund for micro-credit. (9Colonne)