Tunisia's newly appointed Secretary of State for ICT Sami Zaoui said that due to the current unrest in the country, there are no plans on the table to privatize Tunisie Telecom. It comes only days after the government refused to float the state-run enterprise on the country's stock maret. He ended his press conference by deciding the outright cancellation of any intention to privatize TT. The decision was taken and put in the minutes of a meeting with the union. He had said last week that the IPO would be suspended indefinitely, but the company had hope the government would change its position. Secretary of State for Communication Technologies Sami Zaoui said a final decision would be taken in consultation with Tunisia's strategic partners within days over whether to go ahead with the IPO. Tunisia's government holds a 65 percent stake in Tunisie Telecom, with the rest held jointly by Dubai's TECOM Investments and Dubai Investment Group. It had planned to list the company on both Tunis and Paris stock exchanges in what would have been the first offering by a Tunisian company on a European bourse. Tunisia has had two changes of government since former president Zine al-Abdine Ben Ali was driven out by popular revolt on Jan. 14. Many officials have been replaced, leaving plans for the IPO in limbo. BM
