Algeria: National agency of real estate control to organize first sale at auction of 11 real estates

Economist operators and businessmen criticized the Algerian government’s decision to organize sale at auctions of industrial real estates in the big provinces including Algiers, Constantine, Oran and Annaba. They put responsibility for industrial estates price increase and speculation on the government.

General Director of Cevital group Yasaad Rabrab, confirmed during a meeting organized by the Forum of Entreprises leaders, to discuss industrial estates file with the general director of the national agency for mediation and control of property, that the government has continued since independence conducting scarcity whenever it comes to the real estates industry without caring about dire consequences and negative repercussions of the way industrial estates were managed. They have become the highest in all Mediterranean regions.

He added that the state feeds speculation in the real estate industry in spite of very successful experiences in investing in neighboring countries field.

“Today we are facing a very strange situation, which the state wants to achieve revenues through selling real estates, although the State’s task consists in regulation, control of the market, and creation of a conductive climate to the national economy and not speculative real estates industry.

 He strongly criticized the resort to sale through outbid real estate industrial activity in key areas which suffer from scarcity real estates and industrial vessels. That will push prices to become very high consuming more than 30 percent of the value of any project tobe built on these properties. On the other hand, the same value does not exceed 10 percent in the neighboring countries or Mediterranean coast; which means that Algeria can not directly attract foreign investments because it is not able to compete the neighboring states.

 The Agency’s General Director El Maghraoui Hassiba revealed that the body she is running and after five months of its beginning has now 240 industrial properties ready for use at the level of 24 provinces.

She added that the agency will organize on May 31, 2008 the first sale of 11 pieces found on the level of Blida70 km west of Algiers). province (

El Maghraoui Hassiba mentionned that the agency reached a census of more than 1,200 industrial properties at the national level in an area of more than 2,500 hectares.

She recognized difficulties in the inventory and statistics at the national level because of the absence of marketing mechanisms in highlands, interior areas and in the large south.  That requires special large promotion procedures by governors themselves to attract investments to their provinces thanks to advantages and facilities proposed to the local and foreign investors.

The General Director of the National agency for mediation and control of real estates confirmed that sale at auctions of some of the industrial estates either for lands or real estates projects mainly aimed at draw investors’ attention to interne provinces and the south. People there could benefit from real estates by direct compromise.

She pointed out that the real estate portfolio held by the agency was set up by restoring part of the property held by public companies which have become privatization institutions, now is a part of the government’s private properties directly belonging to the agency prerogatives.

The Agency’s General Director stressed that the projects which represent a particular importance to the national economy studied at the national council of investment will be a special convention between the investor and the state through the national agency of investment in order to benefit from the facilities stipulated in the law on investment.

She mentioned that the current prices are specified by owners as that the agency is just a mediator pending to enable to create a real estate portfolio.