Rome, 23 January 2023 – The President of Confindustria Carlo Bonomion the occasion of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's first official visit to Algeria, hhe signing today of a Memorandum of Understanding with CREA - Algeria's Economic Renewal Council - which provides for a pstrategic partnership to foster industrial cooperation between Italian and Algerian companies. In the first 10 months of 2022, the Italy-Algeria trade interchange grew by approximately 160%, thanks also to the significant increase in Italian gas imports, but cooperation between the two countries is not based on a single asset. In fact, the resources that Algeria obtains from the export of hydrocarbons will finance ambitious economic diversification plans that will make new sectors accessible to Italian exporters and investors, as envisaged by the new Foreign Investment Code launched by the Algerian Parliament. "This agreement represents a 'bridge' to foster economic and social relations between the two countries and support our companies in expanding their network in Algeria," said Bonomi. In addition, the synergy between the two business communities can make a decisive contribution to the development of economic relations between Europe, Italy, Algeria, the shores of the Mediterranean and the wider area of sub-Saharan Africa, markets that Confindustria has always considered a priority. Thanks to the agreements reached with CREA and the other local partners," explained the President of Confindustria, "new opportunities for collaboration are opening up in various sectors ranging from agri-food to pharmaceuticals, from cosmetics to tourism, from construction to mechanics, from infrastructure to construction, with attention also paid to research and development and technical and professional training of human capital. Our strategy aims to promote partnerships in which the Italian industrial system can express all its potential in the context of Algerian economic diversification, which provides ample scope for a more deep-rooted penetration of our Made in Italy and its production chains. Algeria, in fact, also sees Italy as a reference model for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. And not only with regard to companies active in traditional sectors,' he added, 'but of increasingly innovative realities, looking for potential partnerships and shared opportunities within two complementary production systems with many affinities.