Algeria to hold trade debate

Ministers and business officials in Algeria will meet this weekend to discuss an overhaul of the country's national trade sector, hampered by unregulated operators and export problems. The government has organised two days of meetings aimed at making recommendations for reform, official sources said. The talks will focus on the regulation of commercial activity following the rise in informal trade that followed January's demonstrations against the increased cost of basic goods. Economic regulation and human resource management will also be discussed by participants including representatives from public bodies and employers' organisations.  They will debate foreign trade and how to increase exports and manage imports, the APS news agency said, with the trade ministry saying it wanted a "large-scale, transparent and global debate" between delegates. Algeria relies on its income from oil and gas, which account for 97 percent of its revenue, to the detriment of other sectors. Unemployment among the country's youth, which accounts for two thirds of its population, is more than 20 percent according to the International Monetary Fund. The government has launched a series of consultations aimed at dealing with economic, social and political unrest which Algeria has witnessed daily since the advent of the arab spring uprisings.