43rd Session of the National Defense Institute: Towards a Social and Economic Approach Adapting to Rapid Changes
The 43rd session of the National Defense Institute was opened on Tuesday by the Minister of National Defense, Khaled Shili, at the Institute's headquarters. The theme of this session is "Towards a social and economic approach that adapts to rapid internal and external changes and allows for the exploitation of available opportunities to achieve equitable development and strengthen the foundations of national security."
Minister's Intervention
In his speech, the Minister estimated that the theme of this session is at the heart of the current stage that Tunisia is going through, like other countries in the world that are experiencing geopolitical, economic, and technological changes. He emphasized that Tunisia is not immune to these changes and needs to mobilize all its human, material, intellectual, and technological resources to put in place a comprehensive social and economic approach that contributes to equitable development and strengthens national security.
Key Points
The Minister highlighted the following key points:
- The importance of the state's social role in ensuring stability and social peace, and opening the way for economic recovery
- The interdependence of economic and social dimensions in the context of choices dictated by national autonomy and independence
- The need for a series of measures, programs, and procedures to support the approach in the short, medium, and long term in the social, economic, and security fields
Experience of the Rjim Maatoug Office
The Minister also mentioned the experience of the Rjim Maatoug Office for the development of the South and the Sahara, supervised by the military institution as part of its development experience, which was based essentially on autonomy and overcoming reality. He explained that the success of the project and the accumulation of achievements and expertise in this field led to the expansion of the Rjim Maatoug Office's field of action in 2018.
New Developments
According to the Minister, the ministry has worked on developing an integrated development approach, which was translated into Decree No. 2025-247 of May 8, 2025, changing the name of the Rjim Maatoug Office to the Rjim Maatoug Office for the development of the South and the Sahara, with a progressive expansion of the military institution's geographical intervention area to the entire Saharan space and the regions of southern Tunisia in general.
