Economy of Tunisia
The Tunisian government adopted a unified investment code in 1993 to attract foreign capital. More than 1,600 export-oriented joint venture firms operate in Tunisia to take advantage of relatively low labor costs and preferential access to nearby European markets. Economic links are closest with European countries, which dominate Tunisia's trade. Tunisia's currency, the dinar, is not traded outside Tunisia. However, partial convertibility exists for bona fide commercial and investment transaction. Certain restrictions still limit operations carried out by Tunisian residents.
Secularism in Tunisia
In 1956, Tunisia achieved formal independence from France. In 1956–1987, under the leadership of Habib Bourguiba, the first President of the Republic of Tunisia, Tunisia’s post independence government pursued a program of secularization. Bourguiba, "who has been one of the most avowedly secularist political strategists in the Arab world", modified laws regarding religious endowments (habus), secularized education and unified the legal system so that all Tunisians, regardless of religion, were subject to the state courts. He restricted the influence of the religious University of Ez-Zitouna and replaced it with a faculty of theology integrated into the University of Tunis, banned the headscarf for women, made members of the religious hierarchy state employees and ordered that the expenses for the upkeep of mosques and the salaries of preachers to be regulated.