Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) – Expanding Franchising Opportunities in Tunisia ($2,400,000): MEPI continues to partner with CLDP as it engages government, public sector and private sector stakeholders in Tunisia to encourage legal and regulatory reforms and market connections to facilitate the growth of franchises in Tunisia. This program provides aspiring entrepreneurs with a ready-made model to start their own business and helps to stimulate private sector-led job creation. Since 2012, CLDP has worked with the Tunisian government to ensure officials better understand license applications for foreign franchises, leading to faster and easier processing. In addition, work with the Tunisian Franchising Association and the adoption of a code of ethics will eventually allow the franchise sector to become a self-regulating, and will yield further reduction in bureaucratic delays and red tape. Since 2014, 29 new franchising agreements have been signed in Tunisia, 15 of which are with U.S. companies. These include Chili’s, Johnny Rocket’s, Signarama and Re-MAX.
