Algeria offers Arabs promising investments
19 november 2006, http://www.kuwaittimes.net/
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ALGIERS: Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said yesterday that Algerian markets offer Arab investors promising investment opportunities.
On the sidelines of the 10th Arab Businessmen Conference, Belkhadem told Kuna that Algeria is considered an African gateway, noting that Algeria has a strategic partnership agreement with the European Union that grants Algerian manufactured products a customs-free access to 25 European countries.
He encouraged Arab investors to benefit from such opportunities and double their activities and investments in the Algerian market to catch-up with Arab investors and companies that accomplished successful projects valued at billions of dollars.
Belkhadem added that Algeria has a tempting geographic and financial situation in addition to laws and facilitations that promote Arab investments, noting that the Algerian government in July approved amendments to investment laws that offer more facilitation to Arab and foreign investors.
The 10th Arab Businessmen Conference kicked off here yesterday with a long agenda dealing in part with investment prospects in tourism, finance and industry. The opening ceremony was attended by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Speaker of Parliament Abdelqader bin Saleh, Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem, and the ministers of energy, finance, tourism, industry, health, and commerce.
The conference is held with the participation of 700 businessmen, 350 of them represent 15 Arab countries and 27 of them represent Kuwait. The conference is expected to focus on investment opportunities in several sectors, including tourism, banking, insurance, agriculture, media and communication technologies. A number of workshops and discussion forums will also be held to touch on the experiences of Arab businessmen investing in Algeria.
The second day of the conference will touch on investment opportunities in Arab countries, where participants will discuss investments in public works, housing, real-estate, transportation, health, and commerce. Algerian official sources said there are more than 227 possible investment projects in Algeria, 174 of them are direct investment projects, while 53 projects require partnership with private and public Algerian institutes. – Kuna
