APS : Tuesday, 03 May 2016
ALGIERS- President of Cote d’Ivoire Alassane Dramane Ouattara underliend Tuesday, in Algiers, his country’s willingness to further “strengthen” its economic relations with Algeria.
“We have considered that the cooperation between the two countries didn’t reach the expected level and I hope that this State visit to Algeria will help strengthening the economic relations between the two countries,” President Ouattara told the press following the discussions with President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
He said that he underlined to President Bouteflika his country’s willingness to “start and give a boost to this relation.”
Ouattara underlined the existence of “possibilities for Cote d’Ivoire, which is a producer of cocoa (40% of the global production), cashew nuts, bananas and various fruits and vegetables, and Algeria, with all its human and natural resources (as hydrocarbons) and its industry, to work together for greater integration.”
On this occasion, he invited the Algerian companies to invest in Cote d’Ivoire in the processing of raw materials, affirming that his country “is in a position to increase trade flow with Algeria.”
President Ouattara said that he broached with the head of State “international issues, as well as the role played by Algeria at the continental and universal levels in the fight against terrorism.”
“I thank President Bouteflika for his personal involvement in the resolution of the Malian crisis,” he said, calling for the strengthening of the national reconciliation in Mali and the implementation of Algiers Agreement.
President Ouattara dubbed “historic” his visit to Algeria, the first of an Ivorian President to the country.
