ALGIERS- The head of the National Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Rédha Tir, called, Thursday in Algiers, for greater use of bilateral investment treaties in order to increase Algeria’s attractiveness to foreign private investors while protecting Algerian interests and foreign partners within the framework of state contracts.
On the occasion of organizing a forum at the High School of Catering in Ain Benian (western Algeria) under the title “Investments and International Economic Law: State Contracts”, Tir explained that the aim of this meeting is “to push the Algerian government agencies to make greater use of bilateral investment treaties.”
The head of the National Economic, Social and Environmental Council considered that bilateral investment treaties are “tools of success,” our openness to the world by increasing Algeria’s attractiveness to foreign investors, adding that “among the 43 bilateral investment treaties signed by Algeria, many of them have not been exploited.”
On the other hand, Tir pointed out that Algeria needs technology and foreign funds in order to make new investments and use those treaties for the benefit of Algerian dealers.
In the same context, he explained that state contracts aim to “provide effective legal insurance for foreign investors,” adding that the foreign partner’s insurance contributes to building a new Algerian ecosystem.
He added that this leads to attracting foreign investors while ensuring legal stability that allows their protection.
For his part, Head of the Department of Sustainable Economic Development at the National Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Mohamed Mehdi Ait Hamlet, called for a preference for mediation and reconciliation in arbitration to resolve disputes, emphasizing “the need for Algeria to ratify the United Nations Convention on Mediation,” or the so called Convention of Singapore.
For his part, in charge of studies at the National Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Nadir Merah, stressed that within the framework of the embodiment of investment agreements in the African Free Trade Area, Algeria must pay attention to the provisions and articles that will be included in those agreements, especially in the field of facilitating investments.
As for the Professor of Law at the Faculty of Algiers, Farid Benbelkacem, he pointed out to two important points in order to encourage investment: the importance of good drafting of contracts and the necessity of amending or adapting the public procurement law in order to ensure a better attractiveness to Algeria.
This meeting was marked by the participation of many international experts, such as Dr. Eduardo Silva Romero (Responsible for the International Mediation Group Dechert LLP, Paris), Dr. Gainmore Zenamoy (Leading Economists from Africabank, Cairo) and Professor Mark Banjemberg (Director of the European Institute and Professor of Public Law and International Law at the University of Saarland).
Dr. Silva explained, during his presentation, that it is necessary to study well the clauses included in the state contracts to avoid foreign partner activating some of them in case of conflict, and to push the receiving state to conduct international mediation that would bring greater benefit to foreign investors.
It should be recalled that this forum brought together about 200 participants from representatives of various ministries, officials from government agencies, 9 national institutions in the field of energy and mines, and 11 public industrial complexes.
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