Germany and Tunisia have had diplomatic relations since the latter gained independence in 1956. The German Government has been supporting Tunisia’s political and economic transformation, which began in 2011 with the era of democratisation, through intensive cooperation.

All six German political foundations have offices in Tunis.

Germany is Tunisia’s third-largest trading partner and foreign investor, after France and Italy. Some 280 German companies are currently active in Tunisia. They employ a total local workforce of 80,000 and have invested more than 350 million euro in the country.

Tunisia is a priority country in the Ta’ziz Partnership for Democracy. Through this partnership, Germany supports reform and modernisation processes, political work in the cultural sphere, and in particular initiatives by Tunisian civil society on democracy and social participation.

Development cooperation focuses on the protection of natural resources, particularly integrated water resource management, and the expansion of renewable energies as well as on education and training, sustainable growth for good jobs, and good governance.

Germany’s cultural relations and education policy focuses on promoting the German language, stepping up school and university cooperation arrangements and supporting cultural events. The German Government also supports cultural preservation projects through the German Archaeological Institute. At present, there are six PASCH schools in Tunisia and around 40,000 pupils are learning German as a foreign language.