Focus on Business Prospects in Tunisia

A Newsday article by James Bernstein on the program co-sponsored by Hofstra Law School's Office of Global Initiatives & Multicultural Affairs last Friday.   The event was also featured in the Long Island Business News.

Focus on Business Prospects in Tunisia

The current unrest in the Middle East began in Tunisia, the small North African country known in the past for its welcoming Mediterranean beaches. But now that the Tunisian revolution that began Jan. 14 and resulted in the overthrow of a repressive government is over, some on Long Island thought the time had come to look at the country as a land of business opportunities.

At Hofstra Law School Friday morning, the guest of honor was the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia, Gordon Gray, who appeared via videoconference to a group of law students and Long Island business executives. "Live from Tunisia" was a joint venture between the law school and the U.S. Commercial Service of the federal Commerce Department.

Gray, a career diplomat, appeared with several others from U.S. Commercial Service. They spoke about the African Development Bank, headquartered in Tunisia, which they said is open to ideas and opportunities for business. Gray said there are more than 75 U.S. companies in Tunisia now, many of them involved with technology. But Tunisia can be a difficult place to reach for Long Island businesses, who know little of the country.

There is help for those businesses interested. The U.S. Commercial Service has an office, the Long Island Export Assistance Center, at the State University at Old Westbury, run by Steve Knode(steve .knode@trade.gov) But are there opportunities there? Gray and his staff said that it depends on what a company is trying to sell or provide.

"There are small companies that have set up shop" in the country, Gray said. "They have decided that because of the tax advantages and the educated workforce that it makes sense for them."

But hold on a minute, said Spencer Ross, president of the National Institute for World Trade, a not-for-profit consulting organization in Cold Spring Harbor. The Tunisian economy is not as well developed as others in the Middle East, Ross said. There may be opportunities for some Long Island companies, but not that many, Ross observed. Ross said he was hoping Gray would talk about wealthy Middle Easterners who might want to park their money in U.S. banks or elsewhere in this country during the current turmoil. But the topic did not come up.