The Diplomat
The Ministries of Science of Tunisia and Spain have concluded, after three years of joint work, a twinning project to strengthen the North African country’s national research system.
The twinning project between the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, funded by the European Union and managed by the Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas (FIIAPP, an entity belonging to the Spanish state public sector in integrated in the Spanish Cooperation), formally concluded at the end of 2021, after 35 months in which a total of 38 missions were carried out with the support of 50 Spanish experts and which contributed to strengthening the Tunisian R&D&I (research, development and innovation) system.
The project has enabled progress to be made in the modernization of Tunisian legislation in this area and has facilitated collaboration between research institutions and the socioeconomic world. It has also enabled the development of a Tunisian science, technology and innovation strategy and the promotion of public-private collaboration networks in Tunisia, following the model of European technology platforms. The twinning has also led to the signing of a collaboration agreement between the City of Sciences of Tunisia and the Science Park of Granada. Another line of work has focused on identifying national priorities for the development of a science diplomacy strategy.
According to the director of FIIAPP, Anna Terrón, this European project “has brought Tunisia and Spain even closer together, strengthening our public innovation systems but also underpinning the much-needed relations between Europe and the Mediterranean in the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy.” “Although the project is ending, the joint work has only just begun: we will continue to cooperate in science and innovation to build bridges between societies and improve our public systems,” she added.
On the Tunisian side, the director of Research Valorization at the Ministry of Science, Rim Seid, stressed “the need to continue this cooperation between the two countries in the field of scientific research.” “Working with the Spanish team has been a good and nice experience. Especially on the strategic side, they have helped us a lot”, she added.
