Toulouse, France - A Booming Centre of European Aerospace

Statesmen’s Forum: Tunisian Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa


Image by CSIS: Center for Strategic & International Studies

Tunisia’s Path Forward

with

H.E. Mehdi Jomaa

Prime Minister of Tunisia

Introduction by

Dr. John J. Hamre

CSIS President, CEO, and Pritzker Chair

Q&A Moderated by

Dr. Jon B. Alterman

Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy and Director, CSIS Middle East Program

Mehdi Jomaa serves as the prime minister of Tunisia, a position he has held since January 2014. Prior to that, he served as the minister of industry in Tunisia’s second transitional government (March 2013-January 2014). Mr. Jomaa is an engineer by training and before entering government had a successful career in the private sector, where he focused on aeronautical, defense, automobile, railway, oil, and general industries operations. He has served in numerous management positions including as general manager of Hutchinson Aerospace, a global company with over 30,000 employees, where he held several senior management positions from 1988-2012. Mr. Jomaa holds a senior engineer diploma and a postgraduate diploma in structural mechanics, design, and modelling from the National Engineering School of Tunis (ENIT). He has also studied business planning, strategic planning, and marketing at HEC Paris, Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, and ESSEC Business School in Paris.

With a 2006 population of 437,000, Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France. Located on the Garonne River, Toulouse is midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean, not far at all from the Spanish border. Toulouse is the base of the European aerospace industry, being the home of home of Airbus Industries, Galileo positioning system, and many more companies in the sector. Due to this and several other converging factors, the Toulouse metropolitan area is the fastest-growing in France.

The world-renowned Toulouse University, founded in 1229, has over 97,000 students and is another major reason for the growth and prosperity of the city. The large youth culture also contributes to the vibrant street life and energy throughout the city.

Toulouse is known as “the Pink City” for its many distinctive brick-faced buildings, and is also known for its appealing graffiti, with the painter Miss Van at the vanguard of this movement. There is of course much historic architecture to be marveled at as well, starting in the old town with the prodigious Place du Capitole, featuring the massive Town Hall, which has a wonderful opera house within. The 12 century Romanesque Basilica of St. Sernin, with its multi-arched bell tower is nearby. Another impressive structure is the Cathedral of St. Etienne, which was possibly built as early as the ninth century, with work continuing through the 13th century.

For all its historical structures and heritage, the Cité de l’espace (City of Space) is an enormous modern theme park that best represents what Toulouse is all about. This is a high-tech celebration of Toulouse’s accomplishments in aerospace and the European space program. The park includes interactive exhibits, full scale models of the rocket Ariane 5 and Mir space station, and a state-of-the-art planetarium.

There is also a thriving museum scene in Toulouse, with the Saint-Raymond Museum housing France’s largest and most notable collection of Roman sculpture, and a converted Abattoirs which is now a remarkable Museum of Modern Art, which is leading the way in the development of the river’s left bank as a modern cultural center.

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Toulouse, France - A Booming Centre of European Aerospace