Barry Lewin: “15 Thousand Visas for Algerians per Year… We’ll Shore up the Teaching of English”

Britain’s Ambassador in Algeria, His Excellency, Mr. Barry Lewin, said his country is keenly interested in partnership and cooperation with Algeria, especially outside the hydrocarbons sector, and is supporting English language education, stressing that there will be no lessening of visas for the benefit of Algerians.

“My priority since my arrival in Algeria three months ago has been to strengthen the partnership between the two countries,” said the British diplomat, who paid a courtesy visit to Echorouk’s headquarters on Wednesday and met with the newspaper’s editorial staff. 

“On the basis of a win-win partnership, and what I saw is that Algeria is full of big assets especially hopeful young people .. We have ties close with your country, which has a great experience in the fight against terrorism and also plays a major role in the stability of the region”, he indicated.

“As you know, everyone is looking for a suitable climate for investment, and the conditions of work are easy. We also take into consideration the competition existing among countries to invest here. In the field of energy, BP is a major partner of Algeria”, he added.

Regarding the procedures for granting a visa to enter Britain, he explained that his country had granted 15 thousand visas per year to Algerians denying any narrowing in this area, but he linked visa grants with the sole condition that the person who entered British soil ought to return back home after his stay in the UK. 

The visa application file procedures last no more than 3 weeks, with one week to answer the request, he stated.

The Senior British diplomat also spoke at length about his government’s firm will to expand the use of English in Algeria. 

To this effect, he quoted an Algerian official as saying, “English is the language of science and the world.” He said he had noticed a great desire among young Algerians to learn English, stressing that despite the great work undertaken by the British Council, opening the door to private training institutions to teach English is necessary.

He also said that he had attended recently three national ffotball championship matches, and enjoyed the youthful enthusiasm of the youth and was very impressed with the performances of the Algerian football stars namely Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani.