Minister of Trade, Amara Benyounes said Tuesday in Algiers the national economy will not "collapse" after the accession of Algeria to the World Trade Organization (WTO), but instead it will enable the country to better defend its economic interests.
"Why Algeria's accession to the WTO scares? As if the national economy would collapse," Benyounes stated at a press conference on the sidelines of a meeting devoted the assessment of the sector trade.
"The government's vision is clear: we will neither sell out nor sell off the national economy. On the contrary, accession to the WTO will us defend our economic interests," Benyounes stressed in response to several questions about the impact of Algeria's accession to WTO on the national economy.
The minister said membership would enable an upgrade of the general economy and more transparency in international commercial transactions, "and this does not help those who are against this transparency," he added.
To allay fears, Benyounes, affirmed that each country seeking to join this multilateral organization, in which runs 97% of world trade, "negotiates membership in accordance with their interests and can even request transition periods to protect certain of its strategic products."
"Trust the experts and the government which are negotiating the accession of Algeria to the WTO", he said.
"Algeria is the last major country that has not yet acceded to the World Trade Organization," he recalled.
Source: APS