The GS1 MEMA (Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa) Regional Forum is being held from 7 to 9 October in Tunis, under the theme ‘Strengthening collaboration and innovation’, to present technical developments in product coding and its advantages.
The forum is intended as a platform for entrepreneurs and experts representing 24 GS1 MEMA member countries to meet, according to Elyes Ben Amer, Director of the Société Tunisienne de Codification (GS1 Tunisia).
He pointed out that the company, which was set up in 1992, has assisted and supported more than six thousand companies in codifying their products in various sectors, including the food industry, cleaning and pharmaceuticals.
He added that the company is working to move from coding to QR codes, which will make it possible to introduce more information, stressing the need to make this technique better known.
He added that the adoption of the QR code should be compulsory by 2027, both nationally and internationally.
For his part, Samir Abid, Minister of Trade and Export Development, emphasised that several initiatives and projects had been launched to support the development of e-commerce in Tunisia, as it is a real lever for competitiveness for businesses and the economy. E-commerce can contribute to virtual groupings of different sales outlets and open up new, distant markets that are currently inaccessible for exportable goods and services.
As for the role of markets and distribution channels in guaranteeing fair competition and transparent transactions, the Minister stressed that his department is working to develop the performance of distribution channels for agricultural and fisheries products by creating structured, model markets that can promote the quality of agricultural products, such as the Sidi Bouzid commercial base (currently under construction) and the Béja commercial base.
In this context, GS1’s expertise and technical support in implementing GS1 standards in the distribution chain for fresh agricultural produce is essential, he said.
TunisianMonitorOnline (NejiMed)
