Algeria to open first border crossing with Mauritania

Algerian Prime Minister Abdel-Malik Sallal announced on Tuesday that his government is going to open a border crossing with Mauritania in order to facilitate the movement of people and encourage commercial transactions, Anadolu has reported.

Sallal made the announcement during the opening of the 18th session of the High Joint Algerian-Mauritanian Committee, which lasted for one day. However, he did not put a date on the opening of the crossing. Meanwhile, the prime minister called on Algerian businesses to increase their contacts with and participation in Mauritanian trade fairs and meetings in order to seize upon all development opportunities between the two countries.

There was diplomatic tension between Algeria and Mauretania from April to September last year after the latter accused its North African neighbour’s diplomats of interfering in its domestic affairs. Mauritanian Prime Minister Yahya Ould Hademine said that the new term of the High Joint Algerian-Mauritanian Committee would be a chance to revitalise mutual relations.

He added that his country looks to develop the relationship at all levels, mainly in farming, fishing, trade, industry and energy. Hademine pointed out that the protocols and agreements signed on the fringes of the meeting are very important and give a “push to cooperation” between his country and Algeria.