Speaking at a joint meeting with his visiting Algerian counterpart Noureddine Bouterfa, the Iranian Minister of Energy Hamid Chitchian emphasized the need for the two sides to eliminate reliance on oil-based economy asserting “at a time when oil prices went up, countries like Iran and Algeria were highly dependent on oil revenues for implementation of development projects though sanction years proved that too much reliance should not be placed on one single product.”
“Iran managed to leave behind sanctions by focusing on domestic capabilities, especially in power and water industries,” he continued.
The official further added that Iran seeks to exchange experiences with Algeria over construction, maintenance and repair of power plant equipment in line with international standards.
Energy Minister of Iran Chitchian called for formation of a joint firm as the first step in bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa, for his part, delineated his country’s plans for the coming years saying “Algeria’s prospects in the power industry are revised every ten years.”
He emphasized the importance of building a 12-thousand-megawatt power house in Algeria adding “the project will be accomplished by 2022 and remains as a good opportunity for mutual collaboration between Iran and the North African state.”
“We also hold plans to exploit renewable energies for which tenders will be invited,” underlined Bouterfa inviting Iranian companies to submit tender in due time.
The Algerian energy minister also urged creation of a Joint Commission between the two parties in order to evaluate projects and offer a good vision for energy cooperation.
He admitted that the Algerian economy is not is a satisfactory condition while the government is putting efforts to bring about improvements by making investments in energy sectors.
Over the first three months of the current Iranian year (began March 20), the volume of trade exchanges between Iran and Algeria only stood at 769 thousand dollars merely pertaining to Iran’s exports to the North African country while officials believe that, given the reached agreements, Iran’s share in the Algerian market can rise from the current 0.009 by at least 1.5 per cent reaching one billion dollars in worth.
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