PARIS

France has revealed that it will implement a €1 billion ($1 billion) support plan for Tunisia over the next five years.

"A major focus of this plan is to help disadvantaged regions and youth, with an emphasis on employment," read an Elysee statement Friday.

It followed a meeting between French President Francois Hollande and Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid.

The two leaders signed €60 million converting debt convention to be used in "the construction of a hospital in the Gafsa region [southwest Tunisia] as a first concrete illustration".

According to the statement, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls will travel to Tunisia by the end of the year to co-chair, with his local counterpart, first Franco-Tunisian Council meeting.

As Tunisia enters the sixth year of its revolution, the country has been hit recently by widespread protests.

Protesters say they came out for the same reasons that ignited the initial revolution in 2010: corruption, poverty and unemployment.