Algeria’s National Participation Council of State has released a priority list of 67 enterprises to be privatized during 2001, however it is believed that only 39 of them will be fully privatized; while the remaining 28 companies will allow investment by interest from the private sector.
The 67 companies listed are part of a larger group of 184 enterprises scheduled to be privatized over the long term. They were selected from a group of 300 state-owned organizations. In deciding which firms should be privatized first, the authorities targeted business sectors which they believed were more likely to attract investment. Second, it selected companies for whom privatization could be smoothly implemented.
The sectors chosen include the beverage, building supplies and tourism industries, with the latter considered by many to be the most promising. Most of the hotel owned by the state will be fully or partially privatized.
Economists have predicted that, in the short term, privatization may bring about loss of more than 7,000 jobs. However, over the long term, the increased activity in the affected business sectors could bring about the creation of 20,000 jobs.
The latest stage of the privatization project needs to be approved by the Algerian cabinet. However, its okay is considered a formality, where inasmuch as 16 government ministers sat on the National Participation Council of State, which has already given the green light. – (Albawaba-MEBG)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
