Algerian Trade Ministry Halts French Monopoly Over Vehicle Market

The director of foreign trade at this ministerial department, Mr Said Djellab, who was the guest Sunday morning of channel 3 of the National Radio, declared that this decision is the result of the assessment work by the committee in charge of the allocation of import licenses for vehicles.

He announced that these licenses will be formally signed on Sunday by the Minister of Trade himself adding that the relevant documents could be withdrawn by the authorized dealerships, starting from Monday May 9th 2016, from the various provincial directorates.

Mr. Djellab underlined, to this effect, that only 40 car-dealerships, “not enrolled in the fraud file” out of the 80 contenders were selected by the overseeing committee to benefit from the proper licenses, adding that the latter concern not only the imports of private vehicles but those for the transport of passengers and goods as well.

The representative of the Trade Ministry pointed out moreover, that the total annual quota of imported vehicles should not exceed 150,000 at the rate of 30,000 per car-dealer and whatever the number of brands represented by himin a bid to balance the national automobile market and ends any untoward monopoly notably by the French car dealerships operating in Algeria.

He further indicated that the Ministry, in order to prop up fresh investments in Algeria, intends to strongly encourage investors wishing to engage in the assembling or construction activities of vehicles in the country.

The expected results by curtailing the imports of vehicles, the Mr Djellab stressed, will lessen the country’s expenditure by $ 2.5 billion dollars annually, knowing that up to 3.5 billion dollars / year have been disbursed hitherto to finance them.