310. On the basis of this vision, the development strategy adopted in Tunisia has placed employment on the top of its priorities due to the fact that it is considered, over and beyond its strictly economic dimension, as a factor of production and a source of revenue, as an important catalyst of the feeling of membership, a decisive lever for active participation and a privileged meeting point for social integration and insertion, the combat against exclusion and marginalization and the preservation of human dignity. 311. In this context, the issue of employment and that of the underlying professional training were, in particular during the 1990s, in the centre of the concerns of the Tunisian Public Authorities. Bending towards a global approach, this policy promotes the transition towards a free market economy and its requirements in terms of efficiency, competitiveness and human competence whilst guaranteeing the conditions for social and human development in general as well as the promotion of work and the guarantee of the sources of revenue in particular. 312. While recognizing and reinforcing the economic function of employment which from henceforth obeys the criteria of competence and productivity, the State has put in place employment support mechanisms for the youth and for the vulnerable socio-demographic categories, thereby valorizing the social function of employment, as one of the parameters of identification, of sociability, of social stability and the condition for the exercise of active citizenship. 313. In the centre of the set of political and economic mechanisms, the employment authority rests on intersecting approaches which reconcile the economic imperatives with the social imperatives. In this context, a macro-economic policy of growth had been put in place in order to promote the market mechanisms and the creation of jobs in particular through: • The promotion of private investment which, for the first time, surpasses public investment, and this notably through the various institutional, judicial, financial, monetary and banking reforms undertaken in the past few years; • The embarking on a privatization programme of public entreprises of a competitive nature, and this on the basis of a re-definition of the roles between the public and private sectors, by strengthening the role of the latter in the development effort so as to introduce a new dynamism in job creation; • The development of the potential of attracting IDEs whose growth has been consolidated these past years in terms of global volume, and quality of investments and employment. 314. Likewise, a policy of modernization of the production and services apparatus had been applied in order to add value to the notions of efficiency, of quality and competitivity, and to assist the business sector in this respect through the creation of technical centres and sectoral funds in the various Departments and by covering all the sectors and developing professional training programmes to produce qualified and employable individuals. 67