TUNIS, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- For the first eight months of the year, investment in manufacturing industry reached 2.5 billion dinars (about 900 million U.S. dollars), up 3.9 percent compared with same period last year, Tunisian Ministry of Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) said on Friday.

During the January-August period, the number of jobs generated in the manufacturing industry reached 41,188, up 2.4 percent compared with last year.

Investment in leather and footwear sector almost tripled to 29.4 million dinars, up 272.7 percent in growth, against only 7.9 million dinars of the first eight months last year. Enditem