US Secretary of State to visit Algeria

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to pay a visit to Algeria in a four-day trip to Portugal, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco starting from September 4, the U.S. Department of State said Tuesday.

• “Secretary Rice will meet with Libyan, Tunisian, Algerian and Moroccan officials to discuss a wide range of bilateral and regional issues,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormick.
• Secretary Rice will visit Lisbon for meetings with senior officials in the Portuguese Government.
• Algeria and the United States of America consult closely on key international and regional issues.
•  In April 2006, former Algerian Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed Bedjaoui met with Secretary Rice
• U.S. direct investment in Algeria totaled $5.3 billion in 2006, mostly in the petroleum sector, which U.S. companies dominate.
• American companies also are active in the banking and finance, services, pharmaceuticals, medical facilities, telecommunications, aviation, seawater desalination, energy production, and information technology sectors.
• Algeria is the United States’ 3rd-largest market in the Middle East/North African region. U.S. exports to Algeria totaled $1.2 billion in 2005, an increase of more than 50% since 2003. U.S. imports from Algeria grew from $4.7 billion in 2002 to $10.8 billion in 2005, primarily in oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
• Exchanges between Algeria and the U.S. in the military field are frequent. In May 2005, the two countries conducted their first formal joint military dialogue in Washington, DC; the second joint military dialogue took place in Algiers in November 2006.