18 June 2022; MEMO: Algeria intends to strengthen its partnership with Russia in the industrial and commercial fields in light of the country's adoption of a new investment law providing greater incentives for industrial projects. This comes at a time when the Ukrainian Embassy in Algeria has appealed to Algerian companies to withdraw from the Russian market, offering promises of compensation if they move to invest in Ukraine.
The visit of the Algerian Minister of Industry Ahmed Zeghdar to Moscow to participate in the activities of the 25th International Economic Forum in St Petersburg was a sign of the Algerian authorities' commitment to close cooperation with Russia in light of Western calls for a boycott of Russia after it launched the war on Ukraine. Algeria hopes to maintain neutrality in its dealings with the Ukrainian crisis, especially now that Spain accuses Russia of playing a part in its conflict with Algeria. Algeria did not openly support Russia's invasion of Ukraine but showed an understanding of Moscow's fears of its borders being threatened.
During Minister Zeghdar's talks with his Russian counterpart, Denis Manturov, they agreed to intensify meetings between the two countries' economic players to reach mutually beneficial partnerships and initiate cooperation in industrial zones. According to the ministry's statement, the two parties also agreed on cooperation in the field of industrial zones: "An area in which Russia has extensive experience."
The two ministers expressed their desire to raise trade exchanges, which are currently approaching $3 billion annually, with an Algerian goal of marketing products in the Russian markets. The Algerian government plans to diversify exports and incomes from hard currency outside the traditional energy materials that remain the basis of the Algerian economy. Discussions on raising trade exchanges were presented during the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Algeria last March, with a joint agreement to strengthen relations further and sign a "strategic partnership document" between the two countries.
Algeria hopes to attract more Russian investments considering the emigration of Russian capital from its traditional investment areas in the West after recent sanctions and its search for new markets. The Algerian minister explained Algeria's "promising" prospects regarding the investment climate.
