President Marzouki calls for "government of consensus"

"Tunisians are now required to think collectively to meet the challenges and build an efficient political system that protects Tunisia and the young generations from all dangers," said Mr. Marzouki at the end of the national symposium on "integration of Tunisian skills abroad in higher education, scientific research and technology transfer," held with the participation of some 88 Tunisian experts from around the world.

"Tunisia is a political laboratory," said the President of the Republic, stressing that the country is hit by conflicts resulting from ideological polarisation. "Tunisia is engaged in a dispute against itself," said Mr. Marzouki, adding that Tunisia is the country of all Tunisians and that it must be ruled by moderate parties representing all the political communities.

"Modernists cannot counteract the Arab-Muslim dimension of Tunisia or vice versa," Mr. Marzouki argued, saying that those who refuse this approach do not understand anything.

Addressing Tunisian skills abroad, Mr. Marzouki expressed pride at the quality of their scientific qualifications while regretting this brain drain.

On the sidelines of the symposium's closing ceremony, an agreement was signed by the Ministry of Higher Education and the Engineering Society of North America.

Under this agreement, 25 academic institutions will be equipped with "SolidWorks" software, in addition to the organisation of training sessions and certification of the software that are now used by over 200 thousand manufacturers and nearly 1.6 million students across the world.