French foreign minister in Algeria to boost relations

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius yesterday started a two-day visit to Algeria in a bid to boost “excellent” ties between Algiers and Paris.

The visit came after an invitation by the Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra who received him at Houari-Boumediene Airport.

A statement issued by the Foreign Ministry said the French delegation included members of parliament, senior officials of French Foreign Affairs Minister and heads of companies.

“This visit is part of the bilateral convention on the creation of high-level intergovernmental committee signed between the two countries in December 2013, which stipulates the establishment of a regular political dialogue between the two countries on a ministerial level,” the statement said.

During his visit Fabius is scheduled to meet with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his Prime Minister Abdel-Malik Sellal.

Fabius and Lamamra would discuss bilateral trade, energy issues and Algerian calls for more French investment, as well as many issues of common interest between the two countries.

The main three aims for this visit according to Fabius are economic, security and humanitarian. Speaking to Europe One Radio, he said: “Algerians, who were harmed by terrorism in the past, have an ideal reaction towards this phenomena and cooperation with them will be excellent.”

Amongst the security issues he is going to discuss with Algerian officials, Fabius said, are the situation in Mali and Libya. “We are following very closely the situation in the region, especially all what is related to the fight against terrorism,” the Algeria Press Service reported him saying.