The local automotive market has been in deep crisis for more than three years, due to the stoppage of imports of CKD/SKD kits since 2019, which has created a shortage.
In an interview with the daily Algériemaintenant published on Wednesday, June 1, the Minister of Industry, Ahmed Zeghdar, provided details on this subject.
“It is true that a strategy was adopted for the advancement of this industry, which was based on local installation as a starting point, with an increase in the rate of integration in the medium-term before moving towards true industrialization. in the long term,” the minister said.
“But this strategy has not been effective, as car assembly requires huge amounts of foreign currency to import assembly kits, especially since this has coincided with the drop in oil prices, which represent the most important source of foreign currency for our country,” explained Ahmed Zeghdar.
According to the Minister of Industry, the interest of former car dealers in this activity made it impossible to pursue this strategy and the public treasury could not support it.
“After the experience of car assembly proved ineffective, and faced with a market that is attracting the attention of major car manufacturers, the opportunity arises to incentivize the manufacture of vehicles locally in exchange for obtaining the local market”, detailed the Minister.
“The main condition is the effective investment in this industrial sector and the integration of the factories established in Algeria into the international networks of factories established by these industrialists”, recalled Minister Zeghdar.
In other words, he continued, “the revival of the automotive industry is done by pushing global manufacturers to establish creative foreign direct investment for local wealth by providing everything necessary for this away from administrative complications”.
Thus, the ministerial department is working on “the development and implementation of the optimal strategy to achieve these objectives, which is to create wealth and added value by exploiting important markets such as the automobile market in financing them by a real local industry”, underlined the Minister.
The Minister of Industry indicated that “in this context, several international manufacturers interested in investing in Algeria in the field of automobile construction have been consulted, the ministry is working to supervise this activity, allowing the selection of the best offers, in such a way transparent and impartial, which would serve the interests of our economy on the one hand, and protect the interests of the investor on the other”.
Asked about the new bill on investment, Minister Zeghdar indicated that “the bill includes seven regulatory texts, including 2 amendments and 5 new texts which will be published as soon as the bill is voted by the two chambers of the Parliament and its entry into force”.
He explained that “the publication of the implementing texts alongside the law will allow the law to enter into force as soon as it is published in the Official Journal and avoid past errors, which were the absence of publication of certain texts of application of the investment law hindering the application of some of its articles”.
