ECONOMY

Algeria, Qatar sign MoU for extension of Bellara steel complex

DOHA (Qatar)- A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a feasibility study for the extension of the complex of the Algerian-Qatari steel company in Bellara, Jijel (360-km east of Algiers) was signed Monday in Doha, Qatar.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune's state visit to Qatar, at the invitation of its Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

The agreement was inked, at the headquarters of Qatar's ministry of Trade and Industry, by Algeria's ambassador to Qatar, Mustapha Boutoura, and the chairman of the board of Qatar Steel International, Khalid bin Hamad El Abidli, in the presence of the minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Arkab, and the Qatari minister of Trade and Industry, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al-Thani.

The extension project will increase the annual production capacity of the plant from two to four million tonnes.

The agreement is part of the strengthening of the economic partnership between the two countries.