Spotlight on franchising

Illustration : Thierry Cap de Coume

A big first in Tunisia: franchising gets equipped with a legal framework. On 21 July this year, a draft law finally recognising franchising was adopted by Tunisian deputies. A text that allows the situation to be clarified. Until now, franchising was regulated only by common law on contracts. It was up to brands to seek out ruses for setting up via local distribution companies with brand transfer contracts, for example.
The legal framework arrives just at the right time for the Tunis Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIT) which is organising, from 10 to 12 December this year, the first edition of a franchise trade fair. Baptised Tunis Med Franchise, this event will take place in Tunis, in collaboration with the Association of Chambers of Commerce of the Mediterranean (ASCAME).
“We wish to establish a partnership between all Mediterranean businesses, notably those in the wider Maghreb including Algeria, Morocco and Libya…” explains Mounir Mouakhar, President of the CCIT. The exhibition will gather some fifty companies from all sectors. To make it into a real international event, numerous franchising federations (France, Portugal, Turkey, Europe) have been invited. On the agenda: an extensive exhibition, conferences and round tables where sector experts will be taking part. Themes covered will focus on legal aspects, the particularities of franchising contracts,
the advantages of investment…
Tunis Med Franchise will allow the country’s franchising sector and Tunisian operators to be promoted. Franchisers will find diverse information on the takeoff of this market and will be able to share their experiences. Numerous French companies such as UCAR, Laforêt Immobilier and Rivalis moreover do not conceal their intention to set up in Tunisia by the year 2010. A place for exchanges, the trade fair aims to promote face-to-face meetings and allow a selection of future partners. For Mounir Mouakhar, franchising is capital for the modernising of Tunisian trade and the improvement of the distribution circuit. “Our desire is that foreign companies might come more easily to Tunisia.”

www.ccitunis.org.tn