Algeria applies for BRICS bank’s membership, with contribution of USD1.5 billion

“We have formally applied for membership of the BRICS group and its New Development Bank, as a shareholder with a first contribution of 1.5 billion dollars,” the president of the Republic said in an interview granted to the

China Central Television (CCTV), on the sidelines of his State visit to that country.

Formally launched in 2009, the BRICS is made up of five emerging powers, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Stressing that Algeria’s membership of the BRICS “will open new economic opportunities,” President Tebboune said “Algeria has been working for years, alongside China, for a better and fairer world where aid is granted to poor countries.”

“We also work for a multipolar world” and, “with China, we call for the review of several aspects of UN institutions, like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), which no longer serve poor and emerging countries,” the president of the Republic said.

“The BRICS group is more favorable to us.”

Mentioning the prospects of Algerian-Chinese economic cooperation, the president put forward Algeria’s ambition to carry out joint projects with China, “in all fields, mainly space science, higher education, pharmaceutical industry, training, railway connection between the towns of the far south to those of the north and mining, especially the mine of Gara Djebilet (Tindouf), which is one of the largest mines in the world.”

President Tebboune also mentioned other potential partnership projects between the two countries, including iron ore transportation from Gara Djebilet to metallurgy plants in the country’s north.

Given the great Chinese experience in the aerospace field, Algeria wants to “work in partnership in this area as part of an Algerian-Chinese joint company specialized in science and space applications to train Algerians in terms of access to space.”

Putting forward the improvement of business and investment climate in Algeria, the president of the Republic said the new law on investment “opens promising prospects for all investors with important guarantees ‎that did not exist before,” adding that such a legal framework favored investment.

Chinese companies have facilitations for investing in Algeria, given the trust between Chinese companies and the Algerian government, PresidentTebboune said, welcoming the friendship relations between the two countries and China’s support to Algeria in its development process since independence.