OFFICIALS and businessmen from Houston, Texas, and Zarzis port on Tunisia’s southeast Mediterranean coast have signed an agreement to establish sea trade links, officials said in Tunis on Monday. Zarzis is an economic free zone set up in 1993 to service foreign companies engaged totally in the export business, while the city in the southern United States lies inland from the port of Galveston and is a hub for oil companies. Under the agreement, the US shipping company Transoceanic will ply a regular route between Zarzis and the Houston area. The agreement also provides for the US company Porta-Kamp, which specialises in pre-fabricated installations for petroleum companies, to set up a subsidiary in Zarzis. Porta-Kamp is expected to begin site construction in October. Firms operating in Zarzis are free of restrictions on financial transfers and also benefit from total tax exemption for the first 10 years of activity, followed by a 50% cut rate from the 11th year. – AFP