Italian President Sergio Mattarella is visiting Algeria on Saturday, November 6. Rome and Algiers, which have exchanged $ 127.54 billion in goods since 2010, want to strengthen their cooperation through new joint development projects.
Algeria and Italy signed on Saturday, November 6, three agreements in the fields of education, justice, and the safeguarding of cultural heritage.
Visiting Algeria, Sergio Mattarella, Italian president, and his counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune had an interview following which, a first agreement to open an Italian international school in Algiers was signed. The second concerns the twinning protocol between the higher schools of the judiciary in Algeria and Italy. A third agreement was signed between the National Higher School for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Tipasa in Algiers and the Central Institute for Restoration in Rome in Italy.
These agreements strengthen the relationship between the two countries, which is several years old. President Tebboune spoke of the “convergence of views” between the two countries on issues of common interest, recalling the strength of their relations which, he said, will be “consolidated in the very near future”. Mr. Mattarella mentioned the expansion of bilateral cooperation to various fields, other than traditional ones.
Old and strategic, relations between Algeria and Italy have strengthened over the years. From the start of 2010 to the end of the first half of 2021, trade between the two countries reached 127.54 billion dollars, with a trade balance in favor of Algeria, according to Algerian customs figures. However, from one year to the next, the volume of trade has declined sharply, from $ 10.83 billion in 2010 to $ 5.92 billion in 2020.
From the start of 2019 to the end of the first half of 2021, Algerian imports from Italy are estimated at $ 7.07 billion. Algerian exports to Italy amounted to $ 11.03 billion over the same period.
