Xavier Driencourt: “Macron Will Visit Algeria Soon”

Problem of granting French visas to Algerians will be resolved before the end of 2017, French Ambassador to Algeria, Xavier Driencourt, said, on Thursday.

“Our services granted more than 400,000 Schengen visas to Algerians, between short and long term, and 40% of applications are granted in the form of a visa for travel, I.e Two to five years”.

“Algeria is the most African country which citizens get a Schengen visa from the French Consulate.

“Problem with granting the French visas to Algerians is on the way to a settlement and there will be solutions before the end of 2017”.

“The problem with the consulate and the administrative partner is that the passage from the traditional system to the developed one is not always easy, and usually resulted in a number of difficulties.”

“In 2012, over 200,000 visas were granted to Algerians to enter the French territory. Currently, the number increased to 410,000 visas. One third of applications are rejected, which is normal, and 40% of applications are granted in the form of a two-year or three-year visas, as this percentage is not calculated within 410,000 visas”.

The French diplomat expressed, on the sidelines of his visit to the city of Blida at the invitation of the club of industrialists and contractors of Metidja, his “desire to open up to the Algerian universities and partnership and cooperation with universities, major schools and the opening of French cultural centers in cities other than the capital, Annaba and Oran”, adding that the number of Algerian students who are studying in France reaches 25,000 students.

As for the visit of the French President, Emmanuel Macron to Algeria, Driencourt revealed that “there is a programmed and desirable visit, but we must find a field that will be dedicated to our Algerian friends, because it is a visit of a head of state and we must prepare for it, and we are at the disposal of Algerians to fix a date for this visit together”.

Regarding the Peugeot Algeria project, the French ambassador said:  “There were talks between Peugeot, its Algerian partners and the Industry Ministry, and they are continuing in the right direction”.

Regarding the problem of the Algerian archives in France, he asserted: “There are working groups on this file to complete it soon”, and about the difficulties that are faced by French institutions in Algeria, he said; “Difficulties exist but we should not exaggerate. 

He gave examples about large groups that entered the industrial sector in Algeria, like Lafarge, Pal, Danone, Reunault, and Peugeot, asserting that they were able to adapt and find Algerian partners.

“The difficulty remains for the French small and medium sized industries, which do not know the Algerian market well and have difficulties in entering this market and finding partners, and our role as institutions, management and embassies of the two countries is to explain how to overcome these difficulties”.