Tunis: Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, Fatma Thabet Chiboub, kicked off the operations of the second phase of the Zarzis Smart Centre, reaching more than 85% of the project's total capacity. Covering an area of 4,500 square metres, this second phase includes a variety of spaces, including offices for large IT companies and new micro-projects to support their development, said Chawki Frïaa, director of the Société de Développement et d'Exploitation du Parc d'Activités Economiques. The centre also includes a virtual reality room, the first of its kind in Tunisia and the second in Africa. This room is equipped with sophisticated techniques that can be used in a number of fields, including industry, medicine, training, engineering, education, culture, cinema and others, to develop Tunisian skills and products and make them more competitive. At the start, the Zarzis Smart Centre hosted 11 companies (112 jobs), while the second phase targets 36 companies (550 engineers and senior technicians) over three years. The third phase of the Zarzis Smart Centre will cover an area of 5,000 square metres, bringing the total area of the centre to 12,000 square metres and the number of jobs created to 1,300 engineers and technicians. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse