The Embassy of Malaysia in Algeria, in close cooperation with the Malaysian External Trade Development Cooperation (MATRADE) and the Malaysia Investment Development Authority (MIDA), organized a one-day Roundtable Session at Mercure Hotel, Algiers on 20 December, 2010.
The Session was officiated by H.E. Dr. Hasrul Sani Mujtabar, Ambassador of Malaysia to Algeria. Y.Bhg. Dato’ Mah Siew Keong, the Chairman of MATRADE, who was originally the Speaker to deliver the Keynote Address was unable to attend due to the cancellation of flight from London due to heavy snow. On matters relating to trade, the speaker was Mr. Wan Ahmad Tarmizi Wan Idris, Trade Commissioner in Cairo and on investment was by Mr. Mohamad Ismail Abu Bakar, Director of MIDA in Dubai. To maximize the benefit of the discussions, the Ambassador also made a presentation on tourism in Malaysia. The idea of the Session was mooted to update the Algerian side on the economic and tourism opportunities in Malaysia, as well as, possible collaborations in Algeria. Algeria is Malaysia’s 7th largest export market in the African region. Trade between the two countries has expanded more than 4-fold from the Year 2000 to 2009 but the total trade is still small.
About 130 business and tour operators of Algeria attended the session and it provided a good indicator of the deep interest by the Algerian side on Malaysia.
Parallel to this visit, the Protem Malaysia-Algeria Business Council (Malaysian Chapter) members, headed by Datuk Suhaidi Sulaiman, were in Algiers too. This is the second visit by the team to Algeria following their first visit in September, 2010.
The increased visits to Algeria by the business community of Malaysia are indeed an encouraging trend and represent a new shift in the exploration of new market in the Magreb countries.