The government invested 16 bln USD to boost public industry

Negotiations with the French Renault and German Volkswagen are in progress to install car assembly units in Algeria, Minister of Industry, SME and Investment Promotion, Mohamed Benmeradi said Tuesday.

• Mohamed Benmeradi told the National Radio that the government has invested 1, 100 billion Dinars for the restructuration and the revival of the public industry.
• “The government has been working for three years to boost state owned companies. The State Shareholding Council (CPE) has recently examined the files of each 30 shareholding management companies (SGP) and the firms having a potential and a market to receive important financial support,” the minister told the National Radio.
• After the completion of this work, within few weeks at CPE, “more than 1,100bn ($16bn) would have been invested in the public sector,” he added, noting that the private sector has been upgraded for a budget worth 386bn Dinars, covering 20,000 SMEs, as by 2014.
• As for the partnership projects, including in the field of cars assembly, Benmeradi indicated that negotiations with the French Renault and German Volkswagen are in progress. In this regards, he mentioned that he is to meet with his French counterpart Jean-Pierre Rafarrain, next May in Paris, to discuss boosting bilateral economy cooperation, including the cooperation project with Renault, to install cars assembly factory in Algeria. “I can’t tell we reached an agreement; such issues take 6 to 8 months to achieve initial agreements on, before being finalized in more précised memorandum,” specified Benmeradi, adding: “the Algerian government proposes producing 100 000 cars, with an integration rate of 50% after 5 years, in conformity with the 51%/49% investment code.”
• The visit of Benmeradi to France will precede a “very important” conference on Small and Medium Seized Enterprises (SMEs), which will be attended by several French employers, said the minister.
• Concerning partnership project with Volkswagen, M.Benmeradi said that the Algerian government has already made its proposals, and waits for a response from the Germans.