TUNIS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed on Saturday launched a five-year national strategy to promote handicraft with a funding of 50 million dinars (20.7 million U.S. dollars).
"The five-year national plan aims to generate about 100,000 jobs by 2022, in addition to increasing the ratio of graduates to investors from 10 percent to 25 percent," said Chahed during his two-day visit to the southwestern province of Tozeur.
According to the prime minister, the strategy will strengthen the capacities of more than 3,000 artisans in the country by encouraging the creation of professional groups and upgrading 200 handicraft enterprises.
It aims to increase the investments in the sector from 18 million dinars to 30 million dinars, and raise the contribution of handicraft to GDP to 6 percent, said Chahed.
