The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) Project Information Document/ Integrated Safeguards Data Sheet (PID/ISDS) Concept Stage | Date Prepared/Updated: 08-May-2019 | Report No: PIDISDSC25566 Sep 18, 2018 Page 1 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data OPS TABLE Country Project ID Parent Project ID (if any) Project Name Tunisia P167900 Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) Region Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Practice Area (Lead) MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH Jun 10, 2019 Dec 11, 2019 Transport AFRICA Financing Instrument Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Investment Project Financing Ministere de l’Equipement, Direction Générale des Ponts de l'Habitat, et de et Chaussées (DGPC) l’Amenagement du Territoire Proposed Development Objective(s) The PDO is to improve transport and logistics efficiency and support the development of economic activities along the Kasserine-Sidi Bouzid-Sfax corridor. PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions) SUMMARY-NewFin1 Total Project Cost 240.00 Total Financing 240.00 of which IBRD/IDA 200.00 Financing Gap 0.00 DETAILS -NewFinEnh1 World Bank Group Financing International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) 200.00 Non-World Bank Group Financing Counterpart Funding 40.00 Borrower/Recipient 40.00 Sep 18, 2018 Page 2 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) Environmental Assessment Category Concept Review Decision A - Full Assessment Track II-The review did authorize the preparation to continue Other Decision (as needed) B. Introduction and Context Sectoral Context 1. The road sector in Tunisia plays a vital role in the economy. It represents about 7 percent of GDP, 15 percent of public and private investment and 4.5 percent of manpower. In Tunisia, the road network accounts for virtually all movement of persons and over 80 percent of goods transportation.1 The road network consists of 19,440 km of classified roads under the responsibility of the Ministry of Equipment, Habitat, and Land Planning, including 356 km of express highways, 4,745 km of national (inter-regions) roads, 6,495 km of regional roads (within regions), and 5,928 km of local roads. An additional 1,915 km of roads are being reclassified and there are 50,000 km of rural (unclassified) roads. The local roads receive the least maintenance and their state reflects this, with only 50 percent of roads in acceptable or satisfactory condition. Dual-lanes represent only 9 percent and 5 percent of the national and regional road networks respectively. Over the past decade, traffic recorded an average annual growth rate of 6.1 percent. Heavy goods vehicle traffic has grown faster than the overall average, resulting in a reduction in road capacity, increased degradation of the carriageways, and increased risks/severity of accidents. 2. Road infrastructure shows disparities between lagging regions and coastal areas. The national road network, with an average density of 12 km per 100 km2, is significantly more developed in the denser eastern coastal regions than in lagging regions. Road infrastructure has historically been one of bottlenecks for an equitable regional development in Tunisia, especially between the coastal and the lagging interior regions. In particular, the poor connection between the Western and Eastern parts of the Central and Southern regions of the country, has resulted in costly and inefficient logistic and transport services, penalizing the development of two main sectors of activities in the Western parts, Tourism and agriculture. Significant progress has been achieved in the coastal areas, with the Sfax - Gabès express highway (155 km) recently opened for service, the Gabès – Médenine - Ras Jdir (Lybian borders) express highway under implementation. The connecting spur of the express highway to Tataouine is under preparation. 3. Lagging regions suffer from unreliable, unsafe and slow travel conditions resulting from single-lane roads and high proportion of heavy trucks carrying agricultural products and raw materials. Improving road connectivity of poorest regions to growth centers is expected to play an important role in improving their economic conditions through increased private sector investments. Consultations with private sector groups have shown that there is a willingness 1 World Bank (2016): Livre Blanc relatif au secteur des transports et de la logistique Sep 18, 2018 Page 3 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) to invest in the lagging regions if transport and logistics costs could be reduced. In particular, for the project Corridor, improved road infrastructure would help the interior regions of Sidi Bouzid and Kasserine to leverage and benefit from the proximity with Sfax, the country’s second economic hub and gateway port. The level of service (measured by width and pavement ratio) of vital but relatively low trafficked roads (regional, local, and rural ones) is still relatively low compared to the rest of the country. Also, better connectivity to the two coastal tourism hubs of Djerba and Sousse, could help revive the tourism activities in the two regions. Main economic activities of the Center-Ouest regions 4. The economy around the corridor is dominated by agriculture, which employs more than 30% of the active population. The Kasserine governorate accounts for 7% of national agricultural production and is the largest producer of several fruits and vegetables (apples, pistachios, pears, tomatoes). Sidi Bouzid accounts for 20% of the national agricultural production for vegetable crops (13% for almonds, 20% for pistachio, 14% for olives, 11% for milk production and 10% for meat). The regions host some agro-processing activities with low local added value: Most agri- food companies are olive oil producers, tomato concentrate producers, and storage companies. There is limited processing of dairy, meat or fruits which the regions produce in large quantities (apple, apricot, prickly pears, etc). 5. The manufacturing sector counts less than 200 firms of 10 or more employees and is highly concentrated both in terms of location, with a concentration in the main cities of the governorates, and in terms of sectors. 80% of the firms and jobs are in three sectors of activity: agri-food, construction materials and textile. The corridor counts fewer firms with foreign capital compared to the coastline, such as the Italian Benetton driving the textile industry in Kasserine. 6. The Tunisian government has been committed over the last two five years plans to promote the development and attractiveness of the interior regions, albeit with limited tangible impacts. Support to the two regions included significant investments in business facilities (incubators, cyber-parks, industrial zones) with very competitive land prices; the setup of support structures for SMEs (API, ODCO, business centers) and financial incentives and significant tax exemptions; The regions of Kasserine and Sidi-Bouzid are classified as “regional development zones� that benefit from specific advantages under the new law on investment, which came into force in April 2017, and which offers various subsidies and tax exemptions. Despite continuous efforts and the new incentive framework, private sector investment in the two regions remains limited. Over the 2000 to 2015 period, the number of companies increased at a rate significantly lower than the national average (see graph below). The two regions have numerous industrial zones with occupancy rates of no more than 30%, which have failed to crowd-in the private investment, revealing a supply-driven type of intervention as a result of the centralized planning process, leading most often to a mismatch between the types of investments made and the needs of local entrepreneurs and the private sector. Binding constraints to the economic development of the corridor 7. Besides the transport and connectivity constraints, the persistent slow economic development of the corridor and limited attractiveness for private sector investment can be explained by a diversity of other factors , including: 1) lack of basic economic infrastructure and hospitality of the area; 2) inefficiencies of existing sectors and lack of economic diversification; 3) difficult access to finance; and 4) lack of capacity and institutional coordination for an integrated development vision for the two regions. 8. Based on the Regional development Index developed by the Tunisian authorities, the governorates of Kasserine and Sidi Bouzid hold the last ranks at national level in terms of livability, which includes access to basic infrastructures (transport, water, electricity), access to health services and availability of recreational services for the Sep 18, 2018 Page 4 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) youth and families (leisure parks, stadiums, clubs, swimming pools, kindergartens, etc.). The result is a relatively unattractive living environment, which makes it difficult to attract and retain enterprises and skilled labor. 9. Key economic sectors along the corridor remain marked by strong market inefficiencies and regulatory barriers that prevent higher growth and job creation and the integration of local firms and workers into national and export value chains. Agriculture remains contained to downstream production activities, with little transformation activities and value-addition at the local level, mainly due to a limited level of value-chain integration, a weak structuring of markets locally in the absence of intermediate infrastructures (markets, logistics hubs, refrigeration and packing stations), a low processing capacity and technical support structures (laboratories, research centers), and; While these governorates have abundant raw materials, including marble, gypsum, and sand, their exploitation remains limited by regulatory barriers, which hamper investment in the processing of materials, as well as by low capacity for the transformation of these products at the local level. Tourism shows high potential for development, with a number of historical and natural sites in the area but has suffered adversely the general crisis of tourism in Tunisia and security concerns. 10. Higher growth and jobs creation would also require the diversification of the productive fabric towards new activities other than agriculture, construction and textile, and stronger economic linkages between coast and interior areas. However, attractiveness for new non-resource-based activities is particularly challenging for Sidi Bouzid and Kasserine in the context of a very small existing industrial fabric with limited agglomeration effects, as well as limited and scattered immediate demand. New activities would prefer to locate in coastal areas to benefit from economies from agglomeration benefits and economies, particularly the presence and the proximity of many specialized suppliers (intermediate goods and services), the presence of a larger pool of specialized and stable workforce, and the diffusion of knowledge (technological externalities). It is not clear whether the high incentives offered by the policy frameworks in support of priority development governorates compensate for higher direct and indirect induced cost for a firm to locate in the area, including higher transport cost. The governorate of Kasserine has managed to introduce some diversification towards textile, through the installation of Benetton in 2008, with a locomotive approach building linkages with the local textile SMEs fabric. Attraction of FDI or domestic investment in new export-oriented activities should be particularly encouraged, including with higher specific incentives allocated to the discovery of new activities. This type of investments is also generally the result of a strong investment promotion strategy to showcase opportunities offered by the region and attract investors. 11. Access of SMEs and young entrepreneurs to finance is also considered as a major obstacle to the development of disadvantaged regions in general such as Kasserine and Sidi Bouzid. The main difficulty of accessing bank financing is the inability of SMEs and entrepreneurs to provide required guarantees, especially in the agricultural sector, also marked by low securitization of land, and the high perceived risk by banks in the context of capped interest rates. In addition, the guarantee mechanisms in place have not yet gained sufficient confidence. As for the public banks specializing in development (in particular the Tunisian Bank of Solidarity, BTS, and the SME Finance Bank, BFPME), their intervention in areas classified as high risk requires close coordination with the commercial banks, which is most often missing. 12. Access of SMEs and young entrepreneurs to finance is also considered as a major obstacle to the development of disadvantaged regions in general such as Kasserine and Sidi Bouzid. The main difficulty of accessing bank financing is the inability of SMEs and entrepreneurs to provide required guarantees, especially in the agricultural sector, also marked by low securitization of land, and the high perceived risk by banks in the context of capped interest rates. In addition, the guarantee mechanisms in place have not yet gained sufficient confidence. As for the public banks specializing in development (in particular the Tunisian Bank of Solidarity, BTS, and the SME Finance Bank, BFPME), Sep 18, 2018 Page 5 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) their intervention in areas classified as high risk requires close coordination with the commercial banks, which is most often missing. 13. Tunisia has introduced legislation to assign greater local economic development planning and financing responsibility to governorates, and the first local strategic development plans have been adopted in 2017 through a participatory process. However, lack of capacity and resources in terms of project preparation and implementation at local level have led to significant delays in the plans roll out. In the early stages of decentralization, the need for support and capacity building at local level is high. 14. In this context and considering the limited impact of past piecemeal policy interventions at territorial level on jobs and prosperity, achieving the economic potential of the targeted areas requires an integrated and sequenced corridor approach that would address main binding constraints in a comprehensive and synergized fashion, at economic, spatial, and institutional levels. Such an approach would include the upgrading of road infrastructure and connectivity, investments in demand-driven market infrastructures, sector-specific reforms and capacity support, the building of stronger linkages between firms and activities located in interior and coastal areas, as well as capacity building for local stakeholders involved in the preparation and implementation of development plans and in the economic promotion of the region. C. Proposed Development Objective(s) The PDO is to improve transport and logistics efficiency and support the development of economic activities along the Kasserine-Sidi Bouzid-Sfax corridor. Key Results (From PCN) 15. The project would have two categories of beneficiaries: - The populations of the governorates who reside in the areas where they can reasonably use the roads, are the direct beneficiaries of the project. In this context, direct beneficiaries are considered to live within 5 km of unpaved road or 30 km of paved road access of the improved road infrastructure and connected to it via an all seasons feeder road. - Microenterprises and SMEs operating in the governorates, who would benefit either as direct contractor for the construction and rehabilitation works, or as final beneficiaries of infrastructures, capacity building or financing activities under the project; 16. They are expected to benefit from a large array of positive returns, that would for many materialize beyond the project’s duration: a. Improved connectivity and mobility between lagging regions and the economic centers of the coast as well as within the lagging regions and improved economic opportunities in the lagging regions resulting from these. b. Job creation in lagging regions: direct employment on site (construction), indirect employment generated by industries that supply materials and equipment for the initial investment, and induced employment generated by the propensity of the first two groups to consume. Direct employment will mostly benefit the local populations from the lagging regions. c. Stronger presence of private sector and increased employment opportunities along the corridor as a result of improved attractiveness to the private sector, possibly in targeted value-chains. Employment opportunities would particularly benefit vulnerable groups including women, youth and the poor; Sep 18, 2018 Page 6 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) d. Improved road safety on select road corridors. Road safety measures have been implemented in the road design following an independent review of the three roads in line with European Directive of 2008 on road safety. Road safety considerations will be specified in bidding documents and appropriately monitored; e. Wider economic benefits engendered by increased trade & transit, construction activities, investments in intermediary infrastructures and higher added value transformation industries (higher local content), and associated services; f. Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation through cleaner and more efficient logistics services and more resilient transport infrastructure; g. Improved Gender Inclusion, through better access to markets and employment. Accordingly, the proposed PDO results indicators are the following: a. Reduction of vehicle operating costs on the roads improved by the project (Percentage); b. Reduction in travel time on the roads improved by the project (Percentage); c. Number of traffic-related fatalities per hundred million vehicle-kilometers travelled (vkt) on the roads improved by the project (Number); d. Volume of trade along the corridor (of selected goods, to be determined) Intermediate Results Indicators include: a. Roads constructed, Non-rural (Kilometers) - (Core); b. Roads rehabilitated, Non-rural (Kilometers) - (Core); c. Direct project beneficiaries (number), of which female (percentage) (Core); d. Person-months of employment created during construction (Number); e. Grievances registered related to delivery of project benefits that are actually addressed within the stipulated timeframe (Percentage), disaggregated by gender of the complainant; D. Concept Description 17. The project will support economic development of the corridor through a set of integrated interventions articulated around two main components: component 1, which will seek to improve specific sections of the Sfax – Sidi Bouzid – Kasserine corridor, improve road safety on these sections, and component 2 which will support complementary interventions to foster economic development along the corridor. The project will leverage the contributions of ongoing projects and complement them by closing identified gaps in line with the project PDO. The project components will be sequenced in consideration of the timeframe of road infrastructure works and their expected delivery at end of project. To maximize impact, soft and capacity support activities of non-road interventions are under discussion to ensure time- coordinated delivery of the corridor enabling environment that is necessary to ensure higher attractiveness and development. The corridor is shown in figure 1. The economic corridor covers the governorates of Sfax, Sidi Bouzid and Kasserine (blue sections shown in figure 1), as well as the onward section Kasserine – Thelepte – Bouchebka (road border post town with Algeria), currently being rehabilitated and improved alignment under funding from AfDB. The section Gafsa - Meknassi (Green section in Figure 1), scored lower on socio-economic and environmental impacts. Sep 18, 2018 Page 7 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) Figure 1 Proposed Economic Corridor 18. Component I - Road Corridor Infrastructure Development: The Project will finance the detailed design and improvement of the Sfax - Sidi-Bouzid – Kasserine corridor with a total length of 178.5 km. Civil works will include widening and upgrading of the road sections when necessary, upgrading of bridges and culverts, improvements to road intersections, traffic signs and installation of other road safety measures. The corridor will have a much-improved geometry and will be constructed as 2 lane dual carriageway facility. Since the Project location is prone to potential climate hazards, the design and implementation will incorporate technical parameters to increase adaptation to the climatic risks in the region. The design will be subject to road safety audits to identify opportunities for improving road safety. Activities will include civil works, supervision of civil works, technical engineering studies, social and environmental safeguards studies, and third-party technical audits. 19. Component II: support private sector development: This component will maximize the benefits of the corridor by alleviating key constraints to private investment particularly in high potential selected sectors, supporting the development of missing market and logistics infrastructures that could have a catalytic effect on existing value chains, and strengthening local stakeholders’ capacities for the design and implementation of development projects to increase the governorates’ attractiveness. The proposed activities are under discussion. 21. Component III: project management and monitoring: This component will consist of the activities of project monitoring and evaluation as well as the day to day management and supervision. 22. Component IV: Contingent Emergency Response Component: Following any untoward, adverse natural event that causes a major natural disaster, the GoT may request to re-allocate project funds to this component to support response and reconstruction. This component would allow the GoT to request to re-categorize and reallocate financing from other project components to partially cover emergency response and recovery costs. The component can also be used to channel additional funds should they become available as a result of the emergency. 23. Project Financing: Total Project Cost is about USD 240 million, of which IBRD USD 200 Million, and counterpart funding Sep 18, 2018 Page 8 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) of USD 40 Million which includes the cost for land acquisition of approximately USD 10 Million. SAFEGUARDS A. Project location and salient physical characteristics relevant to the safeguard analysis (if known) The economic corridor project will cover urban and rural areas in the governorates of Sfax, Sidi Bouzid and Kasserine. Most extra-urban construction will consist of widening of the existing roads using the existing alignments, while urban centers will be contoured to decrease environmental and social impacts. The ESIA funded by EIB for the new expressways will help to promote the economic development of the three serviced interior governorates, without causing environmental impacts that can not be minimized. On governorate level, communities are mostly living on trade, services and construction, except for the governorate of Sidi Bouzid, where agriculture covers 29% of employment. No cultural heritage sites have been identified. Negative social impacts identified are limited to land acquisition impacts, to be mitigated using RPF (for the whole project and most aspects of Component II) and RAP (for those sites under Component I that are identified). Additional social risks are linked to labor influx, which will be managed mostly through contractual arrangements to be integrated into ESMF/ESMP requirements (ESMF for the whole project and most aspects of Component II, EMSP for those sites under Component I that are identified). GBV risks under the project, in particular risks related to labor influx and mobility of female labor are currently being assessed. Only one RAMSAR area is located a little downstream of the RN14, and the project has planned the installation of high security settling ponds to ensure the decantation of fine suspended solids present in the runoff of the road platform. B. Borrower’s Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies The Economic Corridors Project will be implemented by the MEHLP through the DGPC. The DGPC has established an internal Project Implementation Unit (PIU) for the ongoing Transport Corridors Project (PMCTR), which is responsible for all aspects of the overall preparation and implementation of the proposed project as well as potential future World Bank- financed projects. The PIU is headed by a Director and composed of seven MEHLP staff with specific responsibilities among others those related to environmental and social safeguards issues. For the former PMCTR project, consultants were recruited by MEHLP to prepare the Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs) and Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs) with the support of the Bank. During project preparation the DGPC’s main staff specialists for environmental and social/resettlement issues have been assigned to the PIU to handle those issues, and a Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) under the overall responsibility of DGPC has been established providing citizens affected by the project with multiple channels to raise their concerns. C. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists on the Team Markus Friedrich Vorpahl, Social Specialist Mohamed Adnene Bezzaouia, Environmental Specialist D. Policies that might apply Sep 18, 2018 Page 9 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) Safeguard Policies Triggered? Explanation (Optional) This project consists of 2 Components which are associated with potential environmental and social impacts, with activities classified as a Category A project. This policy is therefore triggered. However, it is to be noted that the investments under Component II have not yet been clearly identified, this should be undertaken during further project preparation. Components I and II under this project along with their potential environmental and social potential impacts are as follows: Component I will finance civil works including widening and upgrading of 178,5 km of existing road sections when necessary, upgrading of bridges and improving culverts, road intersections, traffic signs and installation of other road safety measures. Component II will finance investments to improve economic development along the corridor. Activities will include major civil works, and labor- intensive minor upgrading, spot rehabilitation and preventive maintenance works using local microenterprises that will employ un- or low-skilled Environmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01 Yes rural labor force available from the beneficiary communities. These works can have significant environmental as well as social impacts during construction and operation phases. The main positive impacts are linked to the adaptation increase to climatic risks in the region and to the improvement to road safety. The design, construction, rehabilitation and supervision of roads and other infrastructures will generate adverse negative impacts during construction/rehabilitation/expansion works and operating phases if they are not mitigated correctly. These impacts include, among others, occupational and community health and safety issues, construction site waste generation, soil erosion and sediment control from materials sourcing areas and site preparation activities, fugitive dust and other emissions (e.g. from vehicle traffic, land clearing and movement, and materials stockpiles), noise from heavy equipment and truck traffic; and potential hazardous materials and oil spills associated with Sep 18, 2018 Page 10 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) heavy equipment operation and fuelling activities. Other environmental impacts could generate Natural Habitat alteration and fragmentation. Impacts of storm water, waste, noise, air emissions and wastewater during operating phase should also be taken into account. Negative social impacts clearly identified at this stage are land acquisition impacts. Additional social risks are linked to labor influx: the project will use a mobile labor force (likely national) that may have to be located in labor camps or otherwise in communities. GBV risks under the project, in particular risks related to labor influx and mobility of female labor are currently being assessed. For Component I (widening and upgrading of 178,5 km of existing road sections part), technical engineering, safety, socio economic and environmental impacts studies (ESIA) have already been prepared under funding from EIB, by the consortium of consulting firm SCET (Tunisia) and COBA (Portugal). The Bank has reviewed the reports and provided some comments, particularly on the environmental and social impact assessments to be included in the studies revised version. Labor influx and GBV risks will be assessed and their mitigation included in the ESIA. The borrower will prepare a revised ESIA for Component I based on the existing ESIA. For Component II an ESMF will be prepared, as the exact localization of investments and infrastructures to be financed will not be known by appraisal. The ESMF will detail the appropriate EA instrument and the proposed site-specific ESIAs/ESMPs to be prepared as well as their scheduling. Due diligence procedures on potential MSMEs will be included in the ESMF, including screening criteria for eligibility and/or a negative list for activities that will not be supported due to potential E&S and/or reputational risk concerns. Risks linked to labor influx will be managed mostly through contractual arrangements to be integrated into the ESIA/ESMP (Component I) and ESMF requirements (Component II). The management of GBV risks under the project, in particular risks related to labor influx (Component I and infrastructure aspects of Component II) and mobility of female labor will equally be integrated into the appropriate Sep 18, 2018 Page 11 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) ESIA/ESMP and ESMF requirements. Procedures to exclude child labor and human trafficking as defined by the national legislation and relevant international treaties will equally be included. The ESMF along with the ESIA will be extensively consulted and discussed with various stakeholders (involving representatives of the main national, regional and local institutions and NGOs). Performance Standards for Private Sector The project borrower is a public sector entity, not a No Activities OP/BP 4.03 private sector entity as defined by OP/BP 4.03. Activities would not be carried out within protected areas or landscapes, so impacts on critical habitats are Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 TBD not foreseen. The ESMF will provide necessary guidance to prepare site-specific ESIA/ESMP in case natural habitats are affected by project activities. Activities would not be carried out within forests and rangelands so impacts are not foreseen. The ESMF Forests OP/BP 4.36 TBD will provide necessary guidance to prepare site- specific ESIA/ESMP in case forests are affected by project activities. It is not envisaged to procure or use any pesticides Pest Management OP 4.09 No under this project. The proposed operation is not expected to pose risks of damaging on the existing community cultural property. Nevertheless, considering Tunisia's rich archeological history and endowment, the ESIA/ESMF will analyze the project zones and measures to be followed if these properties will be discovered during project implementation. Cultural property and chance find procedures will be applied and appropriate Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11 No mitigation measures for both the identification and protection (from theft, mistreatment of discovered artifacts) of cultural property. While not damaging cultural property, project preparation may later identify and include assistance for preservation of historical or archeological sites. If these opportunities occur, cultural property management plans would be prepared for this projects. No groups satisfying the criteria under OP 4.10 for Indigenous Peoples are expected to be negatively Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 No affected by the project, or to be among the beneficiaries of the project. Under Component I, the project will finance civil works including widening and upgrading of 178,5 km of Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12 Yes existing road sections and, as necessary, upgrading of bridges and other improvements. Component II will Sep 18, 2018 Page 12 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) finance economic development investments along the corridor. These investments will be defined during project preparation. The activities and civil works financed under the project will lead to land acquisition from a high number of affected people, who will loose minor or substantial parts of their income-generating assets in form of agricultural land. Loss of residential structures can not be excluded at this stage. For activities under Component I, and other sections where preliminary detailed design is available during project preparation, a Resettlement Action Plans (RAP) will be prepared prior to appraisal. Given that exact location and impact of most activities under Component II will not be known by appraisal, a Resettlement Planning Framework (RPF) will be prepared prior to project appraisal for Component II. The RPF will lay out the procedure to prepare the project-required RAPs, which will be prepared during project implementation, including processes, responsibilities, funding, and content of the RAPs in accordance with OP 4.12. An initial draft RAP and a draft RPF have been prepared during the EIB-financed ESIA process, and shared with the task team which provided initial comments. Based on this, the borrower will prepare a final draft RAP and an final draft RPF prior to appraisal. Those will be extensively consulted with the affected persons, and publicly consulted with relevant stakeholders (involving representatives of the main national, regional and local institutions and NGOs), made available to all affected persons, and disclosed publicly on the borrower's and the Bank's websites. The project will not finance construction or Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 No rehabilitation of any dams as defined under this policy.The project does not rely on existing dams. Projects on International Waterways The project is not expected to be across international No OP/BP 7.50 waterways. Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60 No The project is not located in any disputed Areas E. Safeguard Preparation Plan Tentative target date for preparing the Appraisal Stage PID/ISDS Jun 27, 2019 Sep 18, 2018 Page 13 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) Time frame for launching and completing the safeguard-related studies that may be needed. The specific studies and their timing should be specified in the Appraisal Stage PID/ISDS RAP (Component I) and RPF (Component II) and ESIA (Component I) and ESMF (Component II) will be prepared, publicly consulted, reviewed, and submitted to the WB for review and approval prior to Decision Review. CONTACT POINT World Bank Hatem Chahbani, Kristin Panier Senior Transport Specialist Borrower/Client/Recipient Ministere de l’Equipement, de l'Habitat, et de l’Amenagement du Territoire Slah Zouari Directeur Général de Ponts et Chaussées slah.zouari@mehat.gov.tn Implementing Agencies Direction Générale des Ponts et Chaussées (DGPC) Slah Zouari Directeur Général de Ponts et Chaussées slah.zouari@mehat.gov.tn FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1000 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects APPROVAL Task Team Leader(s): Hatem Chahbani, Kristin Panier Sep 18, 2018 Page 14 of 15 The World Bank Tunisia Economic Development Corridor Project (P167900) Approved By APPROVALTBL Safeguards Advisor: Nina Chee 13-May-2019 Practice Manager/Manager: Olivier Le Ber 13-May-2019 Country Director: Tony Verheijen 22-May-2019 Sep 18, 2018 Page 15 of 15