The Algerian Prime minister Abdelmalek Sellal on Tuesday described relations with Italy as “very good” saying the European nation is a strategic partner for Algeria, particularly in the domain of energy.
Speaking at a joint news conference with the Chairman of the Italian Council, Matteo Renzi, in Algiers, the head of the Algerian government said that their relations had been developing.
He said the two countries were set to strengthen their cooperation and extend them to other domains like agriculture, industry and tourism.
The measures needed to hold the High Joint Algerian-Italian commission, due in Rome during the first quarter of 2015, have been taken during the Algiers talks.
He said “the big cooperation projects in the different sectors including that related to defence are under preparation”.
Sellal announced that there would be a meeting between the business people from the two countries.
At the political level, he said that Algeria and Italy shared the same view and the same analysis on all regional and international issues underway, particularly about the situation in the Sahel region and Libya’s neighbourhood.
The head of the Algerian government called for the improvement of the relations between Algeria and the European Union in the economic field, saying that he relied on Italian support to strengthen again those relations.
Strong economic relations exist between Algeria and Italy in the sense that Rome is considered Algiers’ second trading partner.
Italy has also invested in several oilfields in Algeria and in the building and manufacturing of cement. There are also numerous Italian companies operating in the technical domain as well as roads and railways.
