South Africa and Algeria have agreed to establish trade routes to improve bilateral trade and market access between the two countries.
This follows a meeting between Trade, Industry and Competition Minister, Parks Tau, and Algerian Minister of Foreign Trade and Export Promotion, Kamal Rezig, held in Algeria over the weekend.
During the meeting, they discussed the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Economic Cooperation, signed in December 2024 during the Bi-National Commission between Algeria and South Africa. The agreement covers cooperation in trade, industrial development and infrastructure development.
Tau said the MoU served as "an umbrella instrument from which all other bilateral economic agreements on trade and investment-related matters draw their specific individual mandates”.
“We also proposed the establishment of the Joint Trade and Investment Committee, which will act as a platform for the two parties to meet regularly to enable trade and investment facilitation,” Tau said.
South Africa’s commitment to continental integration and its partnership with Algeria and other African nations lay in building a resilient, inclusive and innovation-driven economy, he added.
“Minister Rezig and I agreed to explore opportunities in each other’s markets to enhance cooperation in oil and gas, automotive, infrastructure development, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, aviation, agriculture and agro-processing,” he said.
During the visit, Tau also met with Algerian Acting Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb, with whom he discussed the importance of establishing a business council, which will be used as a vehicle to fast-track trade between the two countries.
“The business council will also enhance collaboration and share technical expertise in strategic sectors. We also discussed at length the reinstatement of the South Africa-Algeria air route, which will facilitate people-to-people and commercial relations between the two countries,” the minister said. – SAnews.gov.za
