(TAP) - Prime Minister Youssef Chahed inaugurated, on Wednesday at the Malloula border crossing (Tabarka), the new Duty Free, the first of its kind in Tunisia and North Africa.

"19 million dinars were devoted to the fitting-out and improvement of this border crossing between Tunisia and Algeria," Chahed affirmed, adding that the opening of this duty free will undoubtedly improve the quality of tourism services at this border crossing, considered as one of the largest land crossings between the two countries.

It will help boost the economic sector, create direct and indirect jobs in the region and foster the relations binding the two countries, he said.

Chahed added that the duty free, which will provide 300 new jobs, represents an opportunity for artisans in the region to promote their products, for the State to reinforce its reserves in foreign currency and support the security and development approach in countering terrorism.

He pointed out the existence of an action plan on speeding up the pace of achieving similar projects in the other border crossings, to make them attractive to Algerian tourists, whose number reached 2 million and a half last year.

An exposé was presented on the occasion by officials of the National Board of Land Border Crossings. According to the statistics presented, the number of tourists who crossed the border edged up from one million in 2015 to 2.2 million in 2018 (arrivals and departures). The goal is to separate between arrivals and departures by 2020.