ALGERIAN-IRANIAN FOLLOW-UP COOPERATION : Second session started Monday in Algiers

The second session of the Iranian-Algerian follow-up cooperation committee from the 14th to 16th December started in Algiers on Monday with the meeting of the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs in Charge of Maghreb and African Affairs, Abdelkader Messahel, and the Iranian Minister of Housing and Development, Ali Nikzad, heading the event.

• The three-day session is exptected to tackle means to joint cooperation in the fields of energy, housing, construction, water resources, industry and transport.
• Iran and Algeria already enjoy a remarkable improvment in their relations particularly in the fields of industry, trade and energy.
• Iran has expressed its willingness to help Algeria in the nuclear energy for peaceful pirposes use.
• « Algeria and Iran have opportunities and possibilities for strengthening cooperation and promote it to higher levels. All the ties and cultural points between the two countries, as well as their possibilities in the areas of technology, industry and science are good opportunities to enhance cooperation», Iranian Minister ,Ali Nikzad, said during his arrival at the international airport Houari Boumediene.
• Ali Nikzad, who will head the Iranian delegation at the second session of the Iranian-Algerian Follow-Up Cooperation Commission to start Monday evening added ; « Works of this meeting will allow the evaluation of the former commissions’ agenda and the agreements between the two countires, as well as study their progress ».  
•  Iranian-Algerian cooperation is not only limited in these fields as the Algerian Minister of State for Communications, Azzedine Mihoubi, and the Head of the Islamic Repblic of Iran Broadcasting, Sayyed Ezzatollah Zarghami, emphasized in Algiers on Tuesday, November 18, expension of media cooperation between the two countries.
• Zarghami said that the implementation of agreements reached between the two countries to collaborate in the field of media, and to share expertise.
• He further expressed optimism about broadening of cooperation between Iran and Algeria in media sector, far beyond the current level.
• The Algerian official said that Algeria tries to utilize Iran’s expertise in the media field, information technology and management of the dissemination of news and programmes.
• Algerian leaders have publicly backed Iran’s ongoing nuclear program on numerous occasions. In November of 2008, Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia voiced Algeria’s support for Iran’s right to “peaceful nuclear technology.”Iran has reciprocated Algeria’s diplomatic overtures by offering in August 2007 to provide Algeria with nuclear expertise. In July 2007, Iran hosted a number of representatives from the Non-Aligned Movement, including Algeria, to take a tour of Iran’s uranium conversion facilities at Esfahan. To date, however, Algeria has yet to formally accept Iranian offers; Algiers has signed bilateral civilian nuclear agreements with Russia and the U.S in 2007, instead.
• Bilateral economic cooperation between Algeria and Iran has increased since a resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries in September 2000.
• During a 2007 visit to Algeria, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated that “Iran is determined to remove all obstacles” to developing economic ties between Iran and Algeria.Over 2008, bilateral trade between Algeria and Iran doubled from $25 million in 2007 to $50 million.In addition to bilateral trade in commercial good, Iran and Algeria have mutually invested in one another’s energy, industrial, banking, and agricultural industries.
• In July 2008, Iran and Algeria announced plans to build a joint cement plant in Algeria worth nearly $300 million, thus greatly increasing their industrial cooperation. In February 2009, Iranian Economic and Finance Minister Seyyed Shamsuddin Hosseini said the two countries enjoyed extensive political relations but that banking cooperation would help further develop Iranian-Algerian economic relations.In April 2009, Iran, Algeria, and Eritrea agreed to expand their bilateral cooperation and encourage mutual investment.
• In the context of energy cooperation, Iran and Algeria are both members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and hold the world’s second- and sixth-largest natural gas reserves, respectively. 
• According to the Iranian Ambassador to Algeria Hossein Abdi Abyaneh in August 2008, “expert delegations from countries with gas reserves such as Iran, Algeria, Russia, Qatar, and Nigeria have discussed the issue of forming a gas OPEC.” In June 2009, Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari lauded Iranian-Algerian cooperation on reducing their oil output by 4.2 million barrels per day in order to combat low oil prices.