Sellal: if Bouteflika wants to continue his mission, he will do it

Algeria’s Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal Monday said the first meeting of Algerian-French joint government committee came up with good results to boost cooperation between the two countries.

“Algeria wants to give priority to economic issues since that political relations are good. This desire reflects good dynamism of bilateral relations since French President François Hollande’s visit to Algeria last year,” Sellal told a press conference in Algiers.

He added that the government is satisfied about the results of the joint government committee’s meeting as it dealt with all the possible cooperation fields between the two countries and joint projects in many sectors.

Sellal also said he will visit Paris in December 2014 as part of joint committee in charge of partnership assessment.

“Algeria is ready to defend the region stability in coordination with all its partners.”

Speaking about the next presidential elections, the prime minister said President Bouteflika’s health condition is good. “If he wants to continue his mission, he will do that.”

“This man gave a lot to the country. I have accompanied him for a long time. He is a great man,” he added.

France’s Prime Minister Jean Marc Ayraut  said French investments in Algeria are making progress as they represent the reality of good relations dynamism between the two countries.

He added that France is totally ready to receive Algerian investments and it supports Algeria to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Algeria and France reached a number of joint agreements about political dialogue, the government committee, mutual ban of visas for diplomatic passport holders, transportation technical assistance, urbanism, cultural exchanges program, communication, a memorandum of understanding and cooperation between the Algerian public radio enterprise and France Media Monde and a cooperation protocol between the Algerian television agency and France Media Monde.