TUNISIAN EXPATRIATE ELITE CONFERENCE:

Regional Coordinator Chedley Aouriri (Oregon) was our delegate at the annual Conference of Tunisian experts, academics and professionals working outside of Tunisia.

He reported that the meeting that took place in Tunis on July 26, 2007 and was organized by TATC (Tunisian Agency for Technical Cooperation), was led by several Tunisian ministers and high-level government officials who made an exhaustive presentation of Tunisia’s progress and current needs in higher education, engineering and science.

The speakers emphasized that the acceleration of Tunisia’s economic development actually calls for a reverse brain drain, and that the country may soon become a net importer of technical expertise. They exhorted Tunisian expatriates to return to their homeland on sabbaticals to help alleviate the Tunisian economy’s needs, and cited the numerous financial and moral inducements the Tunisian government provides for such visits.

Attended by over 200 Tunisian expatriates, the meeting was an opportunity to network with Tunisian experts and professionals living in Europe, the Middle-East and North America.

In the evening of July 30, 2007, Chedley was invited to participate in the “Ici Tunis”  program on the Tunisian National Radio (Tunis-7). During the half hour live interview he talked about the Tunisian Community Center’s mission and activities in the USA, and he took the opportunity to extend an invitation to the interviewer to attend our annual Tunisian American Day celebration and its Ibn Khaldun Award Hafla next year in San-Francisco (May 31, 2008).