His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al Thani, Minister of Commerce and Industry, and His Excellency Mr. Kamel Rezig, Minister of Trade and Export Promotion of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria witnessed the signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to study investment opportunities in the steel industry. The MoU aims to study the feasibility of expanding the Algerian-Qatari Steel (AQS) Company factory in the Bellara Industrial Zone in Algeria to increase its production capacity to 4 Mt.
From the Qatari side, the MoU was signed by H.E. Mr. Khalid bin Ahmed Al Obaidli, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Mining, while from the Algerian side, it was signed by H.E. Dr.Mustafa Boutoura, Ambassador of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria to the State of Qatar.
On this occasion, H.E. the Minister of Commerce and Industry pointed to the importance of the agreement, indicating that it reflected the common will of the two countries to deepen and consolidate cooperation in various fields, especially in terms of investment and partnership by maintaining joint work in the steel industry. H.E. also stressed that this step would open wider horizons for cooperation, especially in the commercial and industrial fields. H.E.added that the two countries’ keenness to improve bilateral cooperation frameworks would allow Qatari and Algerian investors to consolidate bridges of communication and establish successful investment projects that serve the interests of the two nations.
The MoU stems from the two countries’ joint aspiration to develop the iron and steel industry within the framework of an industrial and commercial partnership, in addition to meeting the Algerian market’s needs allowing export of surplus production.
The AQS is an Algerian-Qatari iron and steelproduction venture, with 49% Qatari ownershipand 51% Algerian ownership.
The volume of trade exchange between Qatar and Algeria amounted to about $40.45 million in 2021, recording an increase of about 12% compared to 2020. Moreover, there are 169 Algerian companies operating in Qatar, including two companies that are fully Algerianowned and 167 Qatari-Algerian joint ventures.
