Algeria to sign a protocol of agreement with Renault, Industry Minister says

Algerian government and the French giant Renault are likely to sign a protocol of agreement to set up car plant in Algeria, Minister of Industry Mohamed Benmeradi said.

Algerian government and the French giant Renault are likely to sign a protocol of agreement to set up car plant in Algeria, Minister of Industry Mohamed Benmeradi said.

“We are already at the stage of signing a protocol of agreement with Renault. This is to say that we are very close to the realization of the project”, Mohamed Benmeradi told the APS, a few hours before the arrival of Jean Pierre Raffarin, special envoy of the French President Nicolar Sarcozy.

“Once the agreement is signed, we will proceed with the signing of a pact of shareholders which will give the green light to launch the project”, he added.

Mohamed Benmerradi was speaking before the arrival of Jean Pierre Raffarin, who pays a visit to Algeria designed to advance partnership between the two countries.

Both sides want to implement, in addition to Renault,  other structural projects such as Lafarge (cement production) and Total (construction of an ethane cracker).

The Minister of Industry specified that “if we reached an agreement before this year, we would like to see the first made in Algeria car as by 2015.”

He further required exporting 10 percent of the produced vehicles to African countries and also to Europe, as the production will meet EU standards.

This car plant project is evaluated at 1 billion Euros (1.42 billion U.S. dollars) and set to produce 150,000 cars annually.

Benmeradi indicated that the capacity of Algeria car market is estimated at 300,000 cars per year, pointing out that Algeria could launch other car plants with international brands, including the German giant Volkswagen.