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ABCC hosts Roundtable Business Briefing on Investing in Algeria

A roundtable business briefing on new opportunities in Algeria was held by the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce on 13 April.

A distinguished delegation of senior Algerian officials headed by the H E Hamid Temmar, the Algerian Minister for Industry and Investment Promotion, was welcomed to the Chamber by Dr Afnan Al Shuaiby, ABCC Secretary General & CEO, who chaired the event.
Opening the briefing, Dr Afnan stressed that “new opportunities are emerging for UK investors as Algeria seeks to diversify its economy and widen and strengthen its range of business partners.”
She said that the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce welcomed the growing cooperation between the UK and Algerian business sectors and remained ready to assist them in their efforts.  
Keynote speaker H E Hamid Temmar told the gathering of British investors and business consultants that Algeria was now a country with ambitions to be a key player in the global economy and it had the resources to achieve this, the meeting was told.
The country had undergone a remarkable transformation over recent years and was now one of the strongest economies in the region, although it was still the least known of all the economies of the Southern Mediterranean, the minister said.

Algeria had passed through a difficult period in the 1990s when the economy was at a standstill and closed to foreign investors at a time when the rest of the world was opening up to globalisation.
The situation today presents a marked contrast with Algeria now as one of the most stable and democratic countries in Africa, underpinned by its exceptional economic performance over recent years.
The strength of the economy today is illustrated by a range of positive indicators in terms of balance of payments, the reduction of debt to almost zero, holding inflation to around 4% and reducing unemployment to 12%. Reserves now stand at $140 billion.
Algeria is making effective use of its oil revenues by investing in the future to reconstruct the country and revive the economy.
A new strategy has been adopted to improve the business climate and move to a more diverse and free economy open to investment and where the private sector plays an increasingly central role.
Recognising that the country’s private sector needed to develop the government had adopted an industrial strategy and was taking action to help companies to modernise their operations.
Business support measures were currently in place to encourage training and the adoption of modern management methods seen as essential to enable the local private sector to compete globally.
Public companies, meanwhile, were undergoing restructuring and their personnel were undergoing programmes of retraining.
Algeria was ready to invest in modernising its industry and was seeking foreign expertise and partners to bring in the new technologies and know how that the country was lacking.
The Minister explained the country’s policy regarding foreign direct investment (FDI) stressing that the rule requiring 51% Algerian stake in an enterprise did not constitute a stake owned by the state, but could be a combination of public and private sector partners.

He emphasised that finance was available for investors in Algeria for those looking to establish new ventures and providing the skills and expertise that were in short supply.
Outlining an ongoing programme on investment in infrastructure, the minister mentioned in particular the achievements of a presidential initiative to invest in new roads and rehabilitate the highways network, new railways and modernisation of ports and airports.
Other achievements to Algeria’s credit to date included the building of 1.5 million new housing units and 5,000 new schools. The country now boasts 62 universities.
Significant improvements have been recorded in the provision of basic amenities like drinkable water, gas and electricity supplies to domestic customers.
About $180 billion has been spent on infrastructure investment in the last three years. This is to be followed by a second programme of investment of about $210 billion.
Attention was now being directed at modernising the inland regions, whereas previously investment had been focused on the coastal regions where most of the country’s population resides.
The UK, with its strong services economy, was well placed to provide the expertise in services that Algeria needed to continuing economic revival.