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A Special International Report
Prepared by
The Washington Times
Advertising Department - Published on July 2, 1999
[Home Page]
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Advertisers (1) Sonatrach,
An International Petroleum Group
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His Excellency Abdelaiziz Bouteflika, President of the Democratic and
Popular Republic of Algeria
Will Algeria now look more towards the USA than towards Europe? Algeria was one of the first countries to recognize in 1783 the independence of the
United States. That is to say that the relations between Algeria and the USA, in spite of the
vicissitudes of history and the differences which were able to come out in 1815, 1967 or
1973 in particular, have many times shared the springs of friendship and mutual respect. Even these differences were not over bilateral conflicts but over the confrontation of
international policies happily settled on the basis of theories defended by Algeria and
consecrated equally to South East Asia, the Near East and in Southern Africa by the
supreme magistrature and Nobel Peace prize winners.
In this respect, our perception of our relations with the USA, Europe or other regions
of the world, does not flow from dogmatic logic. It comes from the necessity of an
entirely pragmatically and loyal consideration of mutual interests, of non-interference in
internal affairs, and our firm will to ensure our insertion into the world economy, while
irreversibly building democracy in our country. The USA, as much as it wishes, as well as Europe, can accompany us in this difficult
but exciting project. If they wish, the relations with our European friends to whom we are brought closer by
history and geography and economic and geopolitical interests, do not in any way
constitute an obstacle to the deepening and diversification of existing cooperative links. I think that I shall be sufficiently explicit if I say with strength and clarity that dealing with my country's international relations, I would like to use the slogan of President Boudiaf: "Algeria before everything".
Security problems are not so acute as in the recent past. Enormous progress has been
achieved. This, as you may imagine, has not been easy. It was not easy neither for the
population which has intimately suffered from terrorism, nor for the authorities which
were, if we are honest, hardly prepared to face up to this scourge. It was also not easy because, to the internal causes of this drama, were added the
external causes of direct or indirect support to the extremist groups by external forces
to ends which you may imagine and would take too long to talk about during this interview. So the time needed by Algeria to completely solve its security problems depends principally on three things:
Because, as I have already said, violence, extremism and totalitarianism do not belong
either to our traditions, to our values or to our national character. As far as outside aid is concerned, it should consist of drying up the material and
ideological sources of terrorism and extremism. The world is sick from its demography, from the growing poverty of hundreds of millions
of people, from the scandalous imbalances in the sharing of resources, of conflicts and
wars which affect numerous countries, of illnesses which cause suffering for more and more
people and the constant degradation of the environment. To face up to this, each country, notably in the south, should be able to bring a
contribution, however modest, in the framework of a recomposition of international
relations for more cooperation, humanity, justice, law and In this perspective, destabilizing insecurity and subversion under all forms should be
combated as much as hunger, AIDS or violation of human rights. On our side we are doing the maximum. We are counting on our friends, notably American,
to give us the loyal support which we need. Because it is not only in the interests of Algeria, but also in those of stability and
peace in the region , which influence in many respects, international peace and the
prosperity of exchanges and economic investments.
The crisis of confidence has its roots essentially in a crisis of government and
management which has affected the country for 20 years. It has plunged it also into a providence state which, after having evoked great hopes
after independence, found itself suddenly confronted with a fall in oil revenues which
made it from 1986 incapable for dealing with the growing pressure of social needs. It was thus a crisis which had multiple causes and faces: political, economical, social
and moral. Deep certainties were shaken. Wide layers of the population were affected. A whole structure of values, hopes, references, built during a long and slow process of
decolonization was shaken at a rhythm which defied the laws of the normal evolution of
societies. Unhealthy forces were then set free. Forces which, neither the disturbed society, nor the regime as you say, have been able to contain for the simple reason that they themselves were fragilized, reduced, one could even say sick.
It is a hard task, but realizable as long as internally the Algerians put themselves to
it and externally the friends of Algeria realize that they are dealing with a country
which is serious, willing, fair, open, and respectful of others - and that it is attached
to its own sovereignty and is determined to succeed, while staying constantly available to
promote confidence in the framework of a mutually beneficial bilateral or multilateral
co-operation.
It is also a country which contains basic raw materials, natural resources and great
potential in all domains. Apart from the hydrocarbon sector where economic cooperation is already underway,
Algeria possesses in other sectors sources of production and productivity which need
urgent valorization. The big industrial complexes now need an apport of technology, know-how and markets of
which your country's companies dispose. Successful experiments are already taking place in the fields of pharmacy, mechanics
and electronics. Algeria also plans on adopting a targeted strategy and has mobilized resources. On this subject, an immense field of possibilities is open in the domain of
infrastructures of all types which have a real need for modernization, of the preservation
of the environment in general and the quality of urban life in particular. Thus a program will be set up to find solutions for the problems of water supply, the
management of waste and waste water, green spaces, historical heritage and atmospheric
pollution. Telecommunications are another area where we are ready to undertake specific
negotiations. And electricity demand will be growing rapidly in harmony with the expected
growth. Briefly, in each of these sectors, Algeria wishes to find a harmony of interests while
guaranteeing the quality of development and stability of cooperation. These, it seems to me, are the factors of success which allow me to hold ambitions for
the promotion of bilateral cooperation, essentially centered on production and quality,
rather than on consumerism and the importing of the Fast food culture. What is more, comparatively with many countries, labor is available and inexpensive.
And our country is at the gates of the Western World while being the central access point
for the African Continent. There remain certain public sectors and that of services that have a definite need of
management partnerships. Anyway, it only needs political will to act for imagination to go into action in service of creativity: then the necessary changes on each side will become possible, feasible and desirable.
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Table of Contents (1) His Excellency
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria (14) Algeria is gateway to Africa (15) A country made for Tourism (16) A Rich Heritage in Arts and Crafts (17) Casbah's unique beauty to be restored (18) Algeria Facts (19) Privatization goes forward with progress, challenges (20) Country rich in resources, civilization, ambition (21) World renowned hotel carries proud past of history and wealth (22) Fight against terrorism has helped world (23) Banking reforms, foreign investment moving quickly (24) World Bank senses new optimism in Algeria (25) Algerian-American Chamber of Commerce meets to promote trade relations (26) Ministry of Labor promotes programs to reduce unemployment (27) Agriculture potential is tremendous, but investment is needed (28) Algeria adopts new programs to solve water shortages (29) Wine growing provides export income (30) Petroleum companies aware of potential says Sonatrach CEO (31) About Sonatrach (32) Bright future ahead for oil industry (33) Huge oil resources will last for many years (34) The place of small industry in the economy (35) Country's first Bourse to open soon (36) ONAB encourages investors to grasp potential in Algeria (37) The El-Aurassi Hotel plans to go public (38) Enad hopes to partner with leading detergent producers (39) ENGG strives to improve refining system and attract foreign investment (40) Agricultural Bank plans expansion (41) Vehicle manufacturer seeks further investment |
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I n a recent
interview with The Washington Times, President Bouteflika responded to the following
questions. 
Having said this, it is perfectly clear that today, the
reality of the world is that Algeria, which is attached to deepening its project of
democracy and to resolutely promoting a market economy, is entirely willing to reinforce
its cooperation with any country which, respecting its specificity and sovereignty, would
wish to promote mutually beneficial exchanges which are likely to speed up its entry into
the 21st century.