National communication program to promote the Tunis stock exchange : developing and using new educational tools -- recommendations and strategy

Because the public has been reluctant to invest in securities and business owners have resisted going public, the stock exchange has too few investors and too few financial products. A key problem is that many Tunisians have misconceptions, misinformation, or simply lack of information about what the stock exchange really is and how it works. At the request of the Bourse and USAID Tunisia, we developed a comprehensive communications and education program in order to counteract this problem. As part of this program, we designed a set of communications tools to be used by the Bourse to encourage the public and the professional business community to participate in the restructured stock market. In collaboration with Tunisian graphic design and video production firms, we produced eight brochures, two 18-minute videos, four 30-second TV spots, a logo along with letterhead, envelopes, business cards and other forms of basic stationery. We also helped the Institut Arabe des Chefs d"Enterprises, an organization whose membership includes the elite of the Tunisian business community, to organize a seminar focusing on the relationship between business and the stock market. The purpose of this report is to provide guidelines on the how the Bourse can best use these communications materials and how it can develop and maintain a pro-active communications program. (Author abstract)