France will ease visa procedures for Tunisian businessmen, official TAP press agency reported Saturday quoting French ambassador Francois Gouyette.

Speaking to a group of businessmen in Tunisia's southern industrial city of Sfax, Gouyette said that from now on Tunisian businessmen living across the country would only need to travel to the capital Tunis once for visa formalities.

He said that the French embassy was mulling the possibility of enabling the French consulate general in Sfax to deliver visas for applicants living in southern towns.

France grants some 100,000 visas to Tunisians each year, the French diplomat said, noting that only 10 percent of visa applicants are turned down, making it one of lowest turn down rates in the Arab world and in Africa.

Such figures reflect France's commitment to further boost its relations with Tunisia, Gouyette said.

France is Tunisia's first trading partner and biggest donor country. Nearly 1 million Tunisians, out of a population of nearly 11 million, live and work in France, making it the largest Tunisian expatriate community in the world. Endi