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Speech by the Ambassador of Algeria to the Russian Federation at the round table of the Russian-Algerian Business Council

Round table of the Russian-Algerian Business Council on the topic: "Russia-Algeria: prospects for business cooperation"

November 21, 2024

"Mr. Chairman of the Russian-Algerian Business Council, dear participants.

First of all, let me express my greatest gratitude to you for the kind invitation to participate in this meeting, which is being held under special circumstances for Algeria. This year we are celebrating the 70th anniversary since the beginning of the glorious Algerian War of Independence. The revolution that put an end to more than a century of brutal French rule over our people and our land, which spread chaos throughout its existence.

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude for organizing this meeting, which indicates Russia’s interest in strengthening bilateral trade and economic relations between Russia and Algeria. In this regard, I express to you the full readiness of the Algerian Embassy in Moscow to work with you to develop and strengthen economic and trade relations between our countries in such a way that it serves the mutual interests of the two countries.

On the other hand, I would like to point out an important observation, which is that although the volume of trade between Algeria and Russia has fluctuated in the last four years in the range of 3-4 billion dollars per year, which is a significant amount, there is almost none Russian investments in Algeria. This does not correspond with the strong relationship that links the Governments of the two countries in many strategic areas and the opportunities they possess.

The current economic situation that the world faces presents a valuable opportunity to make more efforts to establish economic cooperation and expand trade ties in order to include new sectors of the economy in the process of cooperation between the two countries through interactions based on the principle of "benefits for both sides".

I take this opportunity to briefly tell you about some areas of economic cooperation that the Algerian Government is currently focusing on and in which our countries can invest with high promise of profits.

First of all, under the leadership of Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, President of the Republic, the Algerian Government has been working for the past three years to create a new economic model based on small, medium and developing industries in which industrial production takes priority. Special attention is paid to products that guarantee the highest rate of national integration. We hope that Russian businessmen will take the initiative to invest in all Algerian industries, especially manufacturing.

With this goal in mind, the Government has recently implemented a number of measures aimed at improving the business climate and competitiveness levels, as well as increasing the attractiveness of its economy for foreign direct investments.

The first decisive step was that the Algerian government abolished the 51-49% rule (a local legal entity must own 51% of the shares of the enterprise, a foreign one, in turn, receives a maximum of 49%), which regulated investments in many sectors, with the exception of the strategically important hydrocarbon and mining sectors, the pharmaceutical industry, railways, ports and airports in which the participation of all foreign investors remains subject to this rule. Any other activity related to the production of goods and services is open to foreign investments without the obligation of partnership with the local entities.

A new law on hydrocarbons was also adopted. It provides incentives and privileges that will facilitate foreign companies (including Russian ones) to expand their activities related to the exploration and production of mineral resources.

Algeria has ratified a new investment law aimed at diversifying the economy and providing a number of benefits to foreign investors, including:

1. Establishment of the principle of freedom of investments and initiatives.

2. Stability of the investment project for a minimum of ten years.

3. Simplification of procedures and restriction of management's freedom in working with investment projects, especially those dependent on self-financing.

4. Development of a single-window system for working on investment projects in a determined timeframe.

5. Identification of tax benefits and incentives for directing and supporting governmental investments in sectors of special importance.

6. Adopting a practical approach to dealing with foreign direct investments and working to attract investments that ensure technological exchange and creation of jobs.

Second of all, in order to increase the momentum of the trade turnover with Russia, Algeria is working to simplify the process of Algerian goods entering Russian markets. Algeria creates excellent competitive products that can meet some of the needs of the Russian market, especially agricultural products of outstanding quality.

Third of all, I would like to note that the presence of Russian companies in Algeria is an additional opportunity to benefit from our country's participation in the African Free Trade Area, which will allow Russian products to enter the African market, where about 1.3 billion people reside.

It can be said that the establishment of a fruitful, mutually beneficial economic partnership between our countries necessarily involves the encouragement of mutual investments, technological exchange and skills exchange. We must work together to facilitate the establishment of business ties between the economic entities of our countries in an organized and intensive manner.

To do this, it is necessary to resume the activities of the Russian-Algerian Business Council, whose main task will be to deepen cooperation and search for all opportunities and mechanisms to identify areas that could become fruitful for partnership, exchange and investments, and identify opportunities that correspond to the interests of the countries we consider our allies.

Thank you for your attention."
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