15 March

At a meeting in Tunis with Minister of Administrative Reform of Tunisia Mohamed Abbou, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that Estonia is prepared to share its experiences with carrying out reforms and developing democracy with Tunisia, which is currently in the process of making changes. “During the past year many important changes have taken place in Tunisia that have made governing more open, but the transition has not yet been irreversibly completed. The promotion of democracy and development of rule of law that came about as a result of the Arab Spring can be supported by information technology solutions, which make governing more effective and more transparent,” said Paet.

“Estonia’s e-government and our e-solutions are of interest to Tunisia,” he added. Paet stated that Estonia is prepared to share its e-state solutions with Tunisia as well as invite Tunisian officials and experts to Estonia to become acquainted with our systems. He added that potential areas for co-operation with Tunisia are electronic e-services, cyber security, raising awareness of an e-state, and creating the opportunity for individuals to identify themselves electronically. “Estonia has a good deal of experience in all these areas and has well-developed practical solutions,” Paet noted.

At his meeting with Minister of Communication Technologies Mongi Marzouk, Foreign Minister Paet spoke about Estonia’s e-solutions and implementing an e-government in Tunisia. “Out of Europe’s southern partners, Tunisia has been the quickest in its transition to an open society, and Estonia along with the entire European Union is prepared to support it,” he added.