Emmar withdraws from Algeria

Dubai firm Emaar will stop operating in Algeria after the government took new measures on the foreign direct investment early this year.

• “The memorandum of understanding between Emaar and the Algerian government is banned,” said the firm’s representative Abdelouahab Safouane.
• “The group will start legal procedures to withdraw from Algeria,” he told Echorouk.
• One of the new measures stipulates that all foreign investment in Algeria should lead to a distribution of share capital in which national holdings shall constitute the majority shareholder.
• “The Algerian decision is sovereign and can not be commented because the country’s interests are above any consideration,” Safouane said.
• “The withdrawal of one of the biggest real-estate firms in the world may give a negative indicator on business atmosphere in Algeria,” he added.
• “Algeria may be obliged to change some of its positions in future.”
• The firm offered four projects worth over $20 billion including hotels, supermarkets and a medical city in Algiers.
• The memorandum of understanding contains a set of clauses on Emaar’s construction standards.