Dubai: The UAE and Algeria have agreed to remove obstacles to trade and investment by activating UAE-Algeria Business Council, through a joint declaration following a meeting in Algiers.
Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, who led the UAE delegation to Algeria, signed the joint statement of the eighth Joint Committee meeting between the two countries with Karim Joudi, Algerian Minister of Finance, and attended by senior officials from both sides.
During his visit, Al Mansouri met Algerian Prime Minister Ahmad Oyehia. They discussed ways to strengthen trade relations between the UAE and Algeria and remove obstacles facing investment projects in Algeria.
The Algerian Prime Minister praised the development drive in the UAE and its distinguished position on the world map.
"The UAE is strategic hub for Algeria as it is a gateway to the Middle East. We will do our best to offer the UAE investors an ideal investment environment in our country," he added.
Al Mansouri said both countries offer strong investment opportunities that should be explored. "The meeting also focused on cooperation in the areas higher education, environment, finance, customs energy, telecommunications and industry," he added.
The Joint Economic Committee meeting agreed to activate the UAE-Algeria Business Council, to encourage trade and boost investments between both countries.
The Algerian officials suggested holding the first meeting of the council during the second half of the year. The Algerian side presented a proposal for a Memorandum of Understanding to monitor illegal competition practices and another to enhance cooperation in the domain of consumer protection and to combat commercial fraud.
Going forward
Al Mansouri said: "We agreed to exchange visits and organise common commercial exhibitions and forums and to provide practical mechanisms to remove all obstacles facing trade and exchange of information on legislations and laws related to foreign trade in both the countries."
Al Mansouri said the meeting highlighted importance of developing exports of both countries by signing a memorandum of understanding between the Algerian National Agency for Foreign Trade Development and the Dubai Institution for Export Development and to activate the signed MoU between the Algerian agency and the Abu Dhabi Economic Development Department. Both sides agreed on points of contact to exchange brochures and information related to exports.
Al Mansouri said that it was agreed to organise special forums on finance in both countries to exchange information on the laws and legislation and investment environment.
The meeting also highlighted cooperation in the field of small and medium businesses. Participants suggested signing an agreement to strengthen this vital sector and evaluate the small and medium enterprise (SME) experience of both countries through business delegations. In the energy sector both sides discussed potential for partnerships in oil exploration.
