Italy's President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and representatives from Trieste's scientific community, including ICTP Director Miguel Virasoro, met with their counterparts in Tunisia in late October to discuss possible avenues of future cooperation. Discussions focussed on how the Trieste system of scientific institutions-ICTP, the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), the InterAcademy Panel (IAP), the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), the International Centre for Science and Technology (ICS), the University of Trieste, and Area Science Park-could pursue projects of mutual interest to Italy and Tunisia. One positive outcome of the meeting was the creation of an ICTP Affiliate Centre in applied mathematics at the Polytechnic of Tunis, which will begin operations next year.