Algeria’s Enormous Potential Under The Microscope Of Italian Foreign Ministry

The magazine “Economic Diplomacy” of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs devoted an important part of its issue for the month of December 2022 to talk about Algeria and its great economic potentialities, in addition to an interview with the Ambassador of Rome to Algeria, Giovanni Pugliese.

The magazine titled the front page of its latest issue, “The Unexplored Potential of Opportunities in Algeria,” noting that the largest country in Africa offers great potential to Italy, with great prospects for beefing up economic relations and investments, especially thanks to the excellent bilateral relations  at the economic level through a partnership in the energy sector and a remarkable presence of the Italian business sector in Algeria.

The magazine “Diplomazia Economica Italiana” stated that Algeria provides investment opportunities for the Italian business sector with many advantages such as geographical proximity, low energy costs, and the availability of a young and educated workforce in addition to very important demographic indicators, given that the population currently exceeds 47 million, and an annual growth rate of approximately 2 percent, and 54 percent of the population is under the age of 30.

The magazine pointed out that, in addition to the hydrocarbons sector in Algeria and public works, in which Italy is traditionally present, the country has other opportunities for investment, such as renewable energies, the pharmaceutical industry, energy efficiency, mechanics, agro-industries (manufacturing), tourism and start-up companies.

The issue also  dwelt on the adoption of the new investment law last July, which has been a priority for President Tebboune since his inauguration, and aims to facilitate the flow of foreign investments and ease bureaucratic procedures, noting that among the strengths of this new text is what is related to “extending the guarantee period” for amounts foreigners invest in Algeria, and impose severe penalties on anyone who adversely interferes in investment operations, regardless of his position and the nature of his responsibility.

The magazine noted that the new investment law aims to facilitate the freedom of economic initiative and investment, simplify procedures, reduce the discretionary power of management, and make reforms not only limited to foreign investors, but also to Algerian dealers.

For his part, the Italian ambassador to Algeria, Giovanni Pugliese, confirmed in an interview with the magazine, which was also published in the same  period (December 2022), that the two countries have excellent relations in all fields, and stressed that Algeria is a strategic and reliable partner and cooperation in the field of energy has become a priority for Rome.

He pointed out that thanks to the agreements signed during 2022 and the hike in the quantities of gas flowing through the Transmed gas pipeline, Algeria has become the largest supplier of gas to Italy.

The Italian diplomat indicated that there are other sectors that represent important opportunities for partnership and investment and were the subject of discussions between the economic dealers of the two countries during the business forum that was held on the sidelines of the fourth high-level government summit last July, such as small and medium-sized companies, the agricultural industry, fisheries, aquaculture, pharmacy and energy, renewable energies, as well as the recently signed agreement with the “Stellantis” auto industry to produce in Algeria “Fiat” cars, which provided important opportunities in this sector.

Ambassador Giovanni Pugliese considered that there is interest in Algeria in the Italian system for emerging, small and medium-sized companies, which constitute more than 90 percent of the productive fabric in Italy, explaining that Algeria could represent Italian companies as a kind of “door” to other African markets that are characterized by rapid growth.

In this regard, he said, “Experience in the field of innovation and knowledge transfer (even with special training programs) and the exchange of experiences are among the basic factors that will certainly enrich cooperation between the two friendly countries, not only in the economic field, but also in the technological and scientific field.”

The Italian ambassador concluded by stressing that there is an Algerian will to develop the start-up sector, in which it has invested a lot in order to create conditions to spur “doing business”.