Aps : Monday, 09 October 2017
MOSCOW (Russia)– Russia and Algeria ambition to bring a fresh dynamic to their economic partnership by expanding the scope of their bilateral cooperation. Thus they will sign contracts in several sectors, announced Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev who is expected in Algiers as from Tuesday.
“We plan to sign a number of partnership agreements in various fields. We have the possibility to significantly increase the volume of trade, in the years to come, through new sectors we will be considering today,” Dmitry Medvedev told APS, on the eve of his visit to Algeria.
The Russian-Algerian trade doubled last year and almost reached $4 billion. “It is an impressive figure, but I am confident that we can do better. We can increase this figure considerably in the next few years by launching cooperation in new areas. We are discussing this possibility now,” Russian PM said.
Dmitry Medvedev said that the two parties are examining new sectors of partnership, namely the nuclear industry, food processing industry, mineral resources, water transportation, high technology, space exploration, construction and pharmaceuticals.
In the nuclear industry sector, “we have developed a solid legal framework for our cooperation,” said Russian’s PM.
“If the Algerian authorities decide to develop the country’s nuclear industry, we will be happy to offer our technology and solutions. Russia is already training professionals in the nuclear industry for Algeria. At the same time, we are willing to discuss clean energy projects, namely wind and solar farms.”
— Forging multifaceted partnership–
Russia is “ready to export finished goods, including civilian aircraft, cars, farming and railway equipment, as well as machine tools,” said the Premier.
Closer cooperation in agricultural sector can have “a positive impact on our trade,” added Medvedev who welcomed the “active cooperation in the energy sector and have many successful oil and gas projects.”
“Russia and Algeria are major exporters of gas to Europe. This allows us to coordinate our actions at international venues, including the Gas Exporting Countries Forum and also OPEC when the issue concerns oil. Russia highly values this dialogue, which offers opportunities for compromise.”
The economic partnership can be boosted through the economic forums, which, said Medvedev, “help our business communities strengthen their ties and create conditions for new joint projects, therefore contributing to the deepening of our cooperation.”
In this regard, the Premier recalled the “key role” of the Joint Russian-Algerian Commission on Trade, Economic and Scientific and Technical Cooperation.
The 8th session of the Commission held last September in Algiers allowed to set out “cooperation plans in industry, transportation, construction, geology, agriculture, healthcare, research, space exploration, as well as information technology.”
Concerning Business, the Russian Prime Minister highlighted the Russian-Arab and the Russian-Algerian business councils in the development of trade.
“Algeria has been one of Russia’s leading trade and economic partners in Africa and in the Arab world for years,” said Medvedev, expressing confidence that his visit will help strengthen our friendship and mutually beneficial partnership.
