APS : Thursday, 06 December 2018
ALGIERS- The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU) is an “opportunity” for this country to raise its commercial relations and investments with Algeria to a highest level,
said Thursday, in Algiers, the British Trade Commissioner for Africa Emma Wade-Smith.
In a reply to a question, in a press briefing organized on the sidelines of his working visit to Algiers, on the possibilities of the recovery of trading between Algeria and the United Kingdom thanks to the Brexit, Wade Smith said “that is why I am here this week” while explaining that “the withdrawal from EU is an opportunity that will enable us to think about implementing a better framework to increase exchanges with different countries, including Algeria.”
For her, the current trading volume between the two countries, estimated at 2 billion pounds, is not enough and doesn’t reflect the ambitions of the two sides and the existing opportunities in terms of partnership.
“Two billion pounds might seem too much. But according to me, that is not too much for a country the size of Algeria (…) I think that we can do better,” said the British official.
In this regard, she underlined that the partnership is the “key” to develop the economic relations between the two countries, by seizing the “important” opportunities that Algeria offers with the British expertise.
This initiative consists first in bringing closer the business communities in the two countries, added the British commissioner, pointing out the need to inform the British businessmen about the partnership possibilities existing in Algeria in different fields, notably hydrocarbons, renewable energies, agriculture, industry, urban planning and smart cities.
This rapprochement will also enable supporting the Algerian ambitions in terms of exporting to Africa, according to the official who expressed her country’s willingness to “help and support the Algerian government to achieve its objectives in diversify the Algerian economy and structural reform.”
Concerning the law 51/49 governing foreign investments in Algeria, the British commissioner ensured that this rule doesn’t constitute a hindrance to her country’s entrepreneurs.
