ROME (ITALPRESS) – The “Tunisia Project,” promoted by FIPE-Confcommercio and AIGRIM-FIPE, is officially taking shape. The initiative aims to train and integrate 60 workers into Italy’s hospitality and restaurant sector.
A key milestone was a closed-door institutional meeting held in Tunis on the evening of April 20, bringing together the Italian delegation, Tunisia’s Minister of Labour Riadh Chaoued, and representatives of project partner Elis. During the meeting, the parties reaffirmed their commitments to launching the initiative and defined the main operational and training guidelines.
The pilot project will bring 60 workers, men and women with varying levels of experience in the sector, to Italy, where they will complete a 200-hour training programme. Language training will begin by the end of May, followed by specialised instruction in early June. The workers are expected to arrive in Italy in June.
The initiative, the result of significant investment by the two trade associations and participating companies, is intended as a replicable model of effective cooperation, designed to expand recruitment channels in the sector to non-EU countries.
The meeting with Minister Chaoued took place during the Italian delegation’s mission to Tunis for the “Tunisian-European Forum: Training, Employment, and Mobility in the Hospitality and Restaurant Sector” (April 20–22), an event promoted by the ILO and the European Commission.
The delegation included Aldo Cursano, FIPE-Confcommercio Executive Vice President; Riccardo Orlandi, FIPE-Confcommercio Vice President and President of AIGRIM-FIPE; and Andrea Chiriatti, FIPE-Confcommercio Area Director. They participated in the forum’s proceedings with a dedicated stand and interventions in official panels, including a contribution from Cursano on public-private cooperation to support employment in the tourism sector.
“This project shows that it is possible to address the shortage of staff in the restaurant industry in a serious and systematic way, by building regulated, transparent and high-quality pathways,” said Aldo Cursano, Executive Vice President of FIPE-Confcommercio. “The collaboration with Tunisian institutions and qualified partners allows us to invest in skills even before workers enter Italy, ensuring benefits for both businesses and workers. If we succeed in consolidating and replicating this model, we will have a stable instrument of international cooperation capable of supporting the competitiveness of our sector.”
“This project represents a concrete and structured response to one of the biggest challenges facing our restaurant industry,” said Riccardo Orlandi, President of AIGRIM-FIPE. “It is not only about addressing labour shortages, but about building sustainable, high-quality professional pathways, investing in training before workers even arrive in Italy. It is a model that brings supply and demand together in a transparent and virtuous way, ensuring protections for workers and specific skills for companies.”
– Photo FIPE-Confcommercio Press Office –
(ITALPRESS).
