Companies established to produce military vehicles

Tawazun showcases made in UAE General Rachid Chawaqi, the director of the sector of military industry in the Algerian Ministry of Defence, signed Wednesday a foundation deal with the Emirati state-run company Tawazun, to establish two joint companies between the two countries, which will specialise in producing military vehicles.
The two companies are expected to launch with 200 workers, 30 percent of whom will be engineers and 70 percent technicians, and this capacity is expected to rise to 3500 workers in a few years.
The Algerian military looks to follow in the steps of the Egyptian and Turkish military, which are known to run massive economic and industrial projects beside their military activities. In the last few months, the Algerian military signed several deals with foreign investors to establish joint industrial projects, at the same time when the Defence Ministry's budget has seen a significant increase to reach nearly $ 10 billion in 2012, which is the biggest budget for any of the Algerian ministries.
The cooperation agreement between the Algerian Ministry of Defence and Tawazun, was signed in April 2011. The agreement stated the two countries would establish two companies, the first of which would produce diverse models of Merceds Benz 4X4 military vehicles, while the second would produce the motors. The two companies are targeting a production target of 8500 vehicles in the first two years, rising to 16500 vehicles after five years. The whole production will be dedicated to supplying the militray requirements of the Algerian army.