A recent study has revealed that the output of the Tunisian spare car parts manufacturing sector had tripled in the past six years, reported Al-Hayat. Several European automobile companies contracted various Tunisian spare car parts manufacturing plants to produce their own spare parts in Tunisia. The number of the operating factories in this sector grew to 124 plants employing 16,000 workers. Thirty-three of these factories are entirely export-oriented ones.
Local market sources estimated the value of the total exports of the Tunisian spare car parts manufacturing and assembly sector at 400 million Tunisian dinars ($270 million) last year. These exports are assessed at more than TD 500 million by the end of the present year (2000). Approximately 56 percent of these exports are shipped to Germany and 26 percent to France and Italy. — (Albawaba-MEBG)
