Brussels, 10/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 5 June, the Algerian prime minister, Abdelmalek Sellal, who was re-elected after the elections of 17 April last, indicated in the presentation of his programme that 51/49% rule, abolition of which has been requested by the EU, will not be scrapped for another “4 to 5 years”.
This rule, which stipulates that foreign investors cannot own more than 49% of the capital in companies set up in Algeria, also affects Algeria's accession to the WTO, which is currently being negotiated.
Minister for Industry and Mining Abdesselam Bouchouareb repeated this message last weekend during the visit of French Minister for Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius, who is also in charge of external trade. “Assurances” in this connection were provided to French companies represented at the Algerian Ministry during this visit. The 51/49% rule is a “transitional measure and there has never been any wish to exert control on the management of the companies set up in the framework of this law”. In an attempt to illustrate this he said that “the best operations have so far have been made in the context of this law” and “these companies have all benefited from foreign management”. (FB)