11 nov 2010algeria1 simon foster, first secretary ukti dso british embassy algiers
TRANSCRIPT
11 Nov 2010 Algeria 1
Algeria
Simon Foster, First Secretary UKTI DSOBritish Embassy Algiers
Algeria: General Overview
Algeria 2
Population: 35 million inhabitants
Land Area: 2,381,741 square km
Borders: A total of 6,643 km incCoastline: 998 km
Main Cities: Algiers (capital), Oran, Constantine, Setif, Annaba, Hassi Messaoud (centre for oil & gas)
Official language: Arabic but French is still widely spoken
Economic Indicators Inflation: 3.5% (2009) Economic Growth forecast: 4.5% (2010) Foreign currency reserves: $150bn No foreign debt Low labour costs
NB: Algeria has one of the highest GDP per capita income rates in Africa
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Why Algeria?
Blessed with natural resources: 3rd largest crude oil producer in Africa, 6th largest gas reserves in the world (mostly unexploited); substantial deposits of other minerals (gold, iron, zinc, uranium, copper, phosphate, tungsten, kaolin etc.)
Supplies 30% of Europe’s natural gas imports; 2nd only to Russia
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Military forces
National Popular Army Algerian National Navy-7,000 Air Force Territorial Air Defense Force
19/04/23 Presentation title 5
Military forces are supplemented by: Gendarmerie -150,000 Metropolitan police-200,000 Civil protection Fire brigade Customs
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Problems Algeria is combating Counter Terrorism: The Maghreb (more specifically,
Algeria, Mauritania and Morocco) has been the subject of an insurgency since 2002. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, regularly ambush and target Algerian military and security forces with IED’s
Illegal Migration: Algeria is a conduit for illegal migrants on the way to Europe,
Drug Trafficking and Arms smuggling: drug and arms smuggling that has also been linked to funding the terrorist activity
Civil Unrest: riots and protests are becoming more frequent due to, unemployment, lack of housing, rising inflation, reduction on imports
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What they need CIED Overt and covert surveillance, The ability to locate and track people in the mountainous
Kabylie region to the north and the deserts in the south, Land a sea border security, Comms/internet monitoring. Riot equipment
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Problems
Algerian finance law Secretive nature of military and police Restricted tenders and closed tenders All contracts have a non disclosure clause We are very expensive
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The UK’s strengths in Algeria Excellent political relationship The Algerians see the UK Military Forces and Police as the
Gold standard They look to the UK for training They want to buy low volume high tech kit from the UK They want to diversify and move away from Russian and
Chinese equipment
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Entering the market
Prepare: Do your market research. Understand their needs and carefully target your customer.
Plan for the long term: It will take time to get results. And cultivating & building relationships are just as important as having the right product.
Patience: The business environment is different. Sometimes you’ll need to count to 10!
Persevere: Other British businesses have done well in Algeria. You can too!
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Tenders
Baosem (www.baosem.com/en/) for the energy & mining sectors
Bomop (www.anep.com.dz/bomop) for public sector contracts
Algeria Tenders (www.algeriatenders.com/en/) summarising most tenders issued across all sectors
UKTI (www.ukti.gov.uk) publishes selected business opportunities
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UKTI support in Algeria We offer you honest, impartial advice not market promotion We mainly work with companies who are considering entering
the Algerian market but our services are also available to those already established in-country
Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS): This allows you to commission pieces of work tailored to your exact needs; for example market research, identifying potential partners/agents/distributors, organising meetings etc.
A free tip! KPMG Algeria (www.algeria.kpmg.com) have produced guides in English on investing in Algeria & the hydrocarbon sector
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We’re here to help you!
Tel: +213 (0)770 085 000
Fax: +213 (0)770 085 099
You can also work with one of our international trade advisers who can help you to find out more about doing business successfully overseas.
To find your local office go to www.ukti.gov.uk
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