Algeria PM seeks model partnership with Turkey

Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said Tuesday his country was eager to establish a model partnership with Turkey. "We are removing bureaucratic obstacles and taking necessary measures for enhanced cooperation. These steps may not be adequate but our determination on this matter is clear," said Sellal during the Turkey-Algeria Business Forum in Algiers. "We want a model partnership with Turkey." Algerian prime minister said the North African nation and Turkey were part of the same civilization and were enjoying a win-win economic relationship. Turkish Minister of Economy Zafer Caglayan said the two states could engage in cooperation in many areas, maintaining Turkey, with its second fastest growing exports sector in the world, was ready to contribute to the development and growth of the Algerian economy. "Foreign investment is significant. Investors attract more investors. This is the way it works the world over," Caglayan said. "Turkey received 14.6 billion dollars in foreign direct investment between 1922 and 2002, while this figure rose to 124 billion in the last decade." The two countries, with a total population of 110 million, should be expected to improve merchandise trade, currently worth a mere 500 billion dollars, Caglayan said. Turkey and Algeria are working towards enhancing uninspiring economic relations, with Turkish PM Erdogan expressing his willingness on Tuesday to double bilateral trade to 10 billion dollars and lift visa requirements between the countries, which share strong historical bonds. Erdogan will inaugurate on Tuesday a $750 million iron and steel plant constructed by a Turkish company in Algerian city of Vahran. In two separate steps for bettering economic ties, the states have moved to start negotiating a free trade agreement, and also agreed to recognize one another's quality standards in dairy products so as to facilitate mutual exports.