A high-level UAE trade delegation met senior officials in Algeria to discuss ways to boost bilateral trade ties and also remove obstacles facing investment projects in the North African country.

UAE Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, who led the delegation, met Algerian Minister of Finance Karim Joudi and signed the joint statement of the eighth Joint Committee Meeting held between the two countries.

Al Mansoori later met Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Oyehia at his office and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral trade relations. Oyehia praised the development drive in the UAE and its distinguished position on the world map.

“The UAE is strategic hub for Algeria as it is a gateway to the Middle East. We will do our best to offer the UAE investors an ideal investment environment in our country,” he remarked.

Al Mansoori said both countries offer strong investment opportunities that should be explored. “The meeting also focused on co-operation in the areas higher education, environment, finance, customs energy, telecommunications and industry,” he added.

The Joint Economic Committee meeting agreed to activate the UAE-Algeria Business Council, to encourage bilateral trade and boost investments between both countries. The Algerian officials suggested to hold the first meeting of the Council during the next half of the year.

The Algerian side presented a proposal for a MoU to monitor illegal competition practices and another to enhance cooperation in the domain of consumer protection and to combat commercial fraud.

Al Mansoori said: “We agreed to exchange visits and organise common commercial exhibitions and forums and to provide practical mechanisms to remove all obstacles facing trade and exchange of information on legislations and laws related to foreign trade in  both the countries.”

Al Mansoori said the meeting highlighted importance of developing exports of both countries by signing a MoU between Algerian National Agency for Foreign Trade Development and Dubai Institution for Exports Development and to activate the signed MoU between the Algerian agency and Abu Dhabi Economic Development Department.

Both sides agreed on points of contact to exchange brochures and information related to exports.

Al Mansoori said that it was agreed to organise special forums on finance in both countries to exchange information on the laws and legislations and investment environment.

The meeting also highlighted cooperation in the field of small and medium businesses. Participants suggested signing an agreement to strengthen this vital sector and evaluate the SME experience of both the countries through business delegations.

In the energy sector both sides discussed potential for partnerships in oil exploration and to study the possibility of forming common projects in the field of renewable energy.-TradeArabia News Service