US wants to open talks with Algeria for Trade and Investment Framework Agreement

Bernama | 23 May 2014

US wants to open talks with Algeria for Trade and Investment Framework Agreement

ALGIERS, May 23 (BERNAMA-NNN-APS) — The United States wants to open discussions with Algeria on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) signed by the two countries in 2001, said US Department of Commerce senior commercial officer for Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, Douglas Wallace.

"We want to work with the Algerian government to set a date to hold discussions under the TIFA agreement," he told a media briefing here Thursday.

Wallace said the first discussions would likely start at the end of the year and should provide answers to U.S. concerns about investment in Algeria.

TIFA pacts which the US sign with strategic trading partners should, according to Wallace, establish an annual economic dialogue between the two countries.

"The discussions should help to promote investment and trade between these countries and the U.S. and overcome difficulties which can hinder their development," he said.

Wallace, who welcomed the success of the second meeting of the Algerian-U.S. strategic dialogue held last April in Algiers, spoke of "obstacles" to the development of American investments in Algeria apart from the hydrocarbons sector.

He said the 51-49 per cent foreign investment rule did not not encourage foreign companies to invest in Algeria, even if this condition was "justified" in strategic sectors such as oil.

"The problem in Algeria is that the government has extended the application of this measure to all sectors," Wallace added.

The U.S. is Algeria’s eighth biggest export market and its sixth biggest fource of imports.

source: Bernama