TUNIS, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The Tunisian government on Tuesday started the third phase of a national development plan to invest 1,000 million dinars (413 million U.S. dollars) for 24 provinces of the North African country.
The government budget will provide 700 million dinars for the investment, while the rest comes from financial institutions including the Private Fund for Agricultural Development, the Tunisian Bank for Solidarity and the SME Finance Bank.
The national investment plan, known as the Integrated Regional Development Program (IRDP), aims to generate 34,000 jobs, through 12,400 production projects.
The projects cover infrastructure, agriculture, micro-trades and crafts, according to Tunisian Minister of Development, Investment and International Cooperation Zied Laadhari.
It will help train 8,700 people, with the development of 3,200 hectares of irrigated areas, 900 km of rural roads and 60 crafts sectors, Laadhari said.
Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said IRDP will be directly related to the local authorities, namely the regional councils and the deputies representing their provinces in the parliament.
The first phase of IRDP started in 2011 with 54 projects launched, while the second began in 2014, generating 36 projects.
