Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Tunisia officially took over the presidency of the Ministerial Conference of the International Organization of Francophonie (OIF) on Thursday, replacing Armenia, following the 36th session of the Conference of Ministers on 30 and 31 October in Monaco, the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.
Tunisia's mandate is two years during which it will host the 18th Francophonie Summit.
Speaking on this occasion, Tunisian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, responsible for leading the Acting Ministry of Affairs, Sabri Bashtobji, thanked the 88-member countries for the confidence placed on Tunisia to host the next Summit of which he took stock of the preparations.
The next Francophonie Summit will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation, set up on 20 March 1970 in Niamey, Niger, which was later transformed into the International Francophonie, whose former Tunisian president, Habib Bourguiba, was one of the founding fathers.
The Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently published six decisions in the official newspaper on the creation of structures responsible for the organisational and logistical aspects of the next Summit, scheduled for November 2020.
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