Serbian companies invited to build Algerian infrastructure worth 150 billion USD

The Minister of Economy of Serbia, Mlađan Dinkić, and the Minister of Water Resources of Algeria, Abdelmalek Selal, invited Serbian companies today (November 16, 2009) to take part in implementation of 150 billion USD worth of Algerian project for construction of infrastructure prior to 2014.

Dinkić said at the meeting of the Mixed Committee for Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation between Serbia and Algeria in Belgrade, which was held again after 20-year break, that the annual exchange of goods between the two countries amounted to about 10m USD, meaning that there was plenty of room for development.

- Cooperation between Serbia and Algeria can be improved in water power sector, civil engineering, pharmaceutics, technology transfer, agriculture, production of agricultural machines and furniture, tourism, energy sector, banking and defense - he said.

According to Dinkić, the cooperation is made difficult by the fact that Algeria does not accept the guarantees of Serbia-based banks.

He pointed out that he and Mr. Selal had come to the conclusion that that problem could be overcome if the agrement was signed between the central banks of the two countries and if joint Serbian-Algerian ventures were founded to implement projects in Algeria.

Dinkić announced that the President of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, was going to visit Serbia, but he did not specify when, and he added that Serbia and Algeria would sign the agreement on cooperation in defense sector on that occasion.

Serbian Minister of Economy also said that the negotiations on cooperation between "Jugoimport SDPR", Serbian government company for trade in arms, and Algerian partners were in the final phase.

Dinkić said that company "Hidrotehnika-Hidroenergetika" worked on construction of dams in Algeria, and that the meeting of the Committee was attended by the representatives of "Energoprojekt", "Putevi Užice" and pharmaceutical companies that were interested in projects in Algerian market.

Mr. Selal said that it was in the mutual interest of Serbia and Algeria to work on the legal framework that would enable improvement and expansion of economic cooperation.

The Mixed Committee for Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation between Serbia and Algeria will have the meetings in Belgrade today and tomorrow.