Economic diplomacy: importance of strengthening the presence of Algerian products abroad

ALGIERS – Presidents of Business Councils were unanimous Sunday in Algiers, in emphasizing the importance of working to strengthen the presence of Algerian products abroad, emphasizing the role of economic diplomacy and diplomatic representations to reach this goal.

In their interventions, during workshops organized as part of the seminar on “the role of business councils in boosting economic diplomacy”, organized by the Ministry of Commerce and Export Promotion, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, the speakers highlighted the role of the national community abroad in this approach.

In this context, the president of the Algerian-South African Business Council affirmed that the objective of the joint business councils “is not only to attract foreign investment, but also tends to broaden the horizons and perspectives of Algerian economic operators and encourage them to compete in foreign markets, with a view to developing trade and achieving a balance in the trade balance.

In turn, the president of the Algerian-Korean Business Council called for the creation of commercial structures in diplomatic representations, in order to contribute effectively to the promotion and export of Algerian products.

For his part, the president of the Algerian-Mauritanian business council affirmed that “the need of the national economy to increase the volume of exports requires reframing the business councils and regulating their relations with diplomatic representations in first, then with the services responsible for export and investment”.

The representative of the Algerian-Senegalese Business Council called for the formation of groups of businessmen to promote Algerian products in other countries.

Furthermore, the Director of Promotion and Support for Economic Exchanges at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, Rabah Fassih underlined the importance of the role of business councils for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which works to make it an effective tool for achieving Algeria’s major economic objectives, namely increasing exports outside the hydrocarbon sector, draining foreign investments and diversifying the economy.

In this wake, he affirmed that the ministry had taken practical measures through the opening of an information office and the promotion of investments and exports, as well as the creation of a network of those responsible for economic affairs and commercial at the level of Algerian embassies and consulates abroad, noting that its mission consists of helping to provide economic and commercial information to Algerian and foreign economic operators, as well as supporting the latter in the search for foreign markets and give them the necessary information on the conditions of access to these markets and the reliability of the foreign operator.

Ex He also called for more efficiency to be given to business councils so that they contribute more to the achievement of the country’s economic objectives, and to increasing Algerian exports through the search for new foreign markets, as well as establishment of profitable partnerships that generate wealth and jobs between Algerian and foreign companies.

The work of the seminar was sanctioned by a set of recommendations, the most important of which insisted on the need to distinguish between the sovereign economic diplomacy of the country and the accompanying economic diplomacy, which deals with the activity of the councils of business and to know the characteristics, assets and economic capacities of counterpart countries.

The recommendations also called for expanding the network of representative offices abroad, responsible for providing information and explanations on the business climate as well as on investment opportunities in Algeria to foreign economic operators, in addition to the need to organize direct sectoral working meetings within the framework of business councils, and to also involve the presidents of parliamentary friendship committees in these councils.

It is also a matter of establishing business councils as a platform for promoting Algerian products and services in order to access foreign markets, and of involving the national community established abroad in this process.

This seminar, organized under the chairmanship of the Minister of Trade and Export Promotion, Mr. Tayeb Zitouni, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, Mr. Ahmed Attaf, took place took place in the presence of the Director General of Customs (DGD), General Abdelhafid Bakhouche, the president of the Higher Youth Council (CSJ), Mustapha Hidaoui, the president of the National Observatory of Civil Society (ONSC), Noureddine Benbrahem and of the president of the National Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Rabia Kharfi, in addition to representatives of professional organizations.

APS