Bouchouareb: “We preferred stalling in Peugeot negotiations so as not to repeat mistakes of our predecessors”

The Minister of Industry and Mines, Abdeslem Bouchouareb, has revealed the existence of four large projects in the national textile sector, which he said has grown by 11% and exceeded the state’s support in 2016, with on focus the projected achievement of a new factory of wool in Oum El Bouagui worth 16 million Euros, starting from the second half of 2018.

Referring to the stalled Peugeot negotiations, Mr Bouchouareb stated: “We are now keen to be more balanced and cautious… and we ought to learn from the failures of our previous investments.”
The Minister of Industry and Mines further announced the investment of 18 million Euros for the production of wool in the region of Oum El-Bouagui, through an Algerian-Turkish partnership with an estimated turnover of 36 million Euros, adding that this textile-related project will help produce around 3,000 tons of wool as part of this new investment, which will enter into service before the end of the year.
Furthermore, the minister announced the reopening of all factories closed during the nineties, geared to the production of spinning, wool, cotton and thread, as part of an action-plan to re-launch 4 relevant factories in the course of this year, in the light of the authorities’ recent decision to halt the import of these materials from abroad.
During the signing on Sunday of a partnership agreement between the Algerian trader “Taxa LG”, and Turkey’s Boehner Sanayi Company, Minister Bouchouareb thus pointed to a strong national textile industry rejuvenation foreseen this year after the sector’s remarkable growth rate recorded in 2016, which hiked by 11 percent, and achieved financial spin-offs for the first time in years.
To this effect, Mr Bouchouareb stressed that this new major textile project, which will be achieved in the region of Oum Al Bouagui (eastern Algeria), is slated to  employ 450 Algerians, with its significant textile output strictly tallying with the high standards of the Turkish textile industry, which is a leading international market, as he put it.