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Doing business & staying in touch

Suits should always be worn in winter months, shirt sleeves during the summer. Prior appointments are necessary for larger business firms. Businesspeople generally speak Arabic or French and, as a great deal of bargaining is necessary, it is rarely convenient to carry out transactions through an interpreter. Patience is always important. Visitors are usually entertained in hotels or restaurants, where Algerian businessmen are seldom accompanied by their wives. Only rarely are visitors entertained at home. If visiting during Ramadan (and this should be avoided if possible), care should be taken to observe local custom in public places.

Office hours: 

Generally Sat-Wed 0800-1200 and 1300-1600.

Economy: 

Petroleum and natural gas are the most important industries in Algeria and account for all but a small fraction of the country's exports. Most of the country is covered by the Sahara Desert and despite investments in the agricultural sector (the main crops being wheat, potatoes, grapes, cereals and citrus fruits), Algeria is far from self-sufficient in foodstuffs and is vulnerable to drought.

Most of the fertile land is located in the northern littoral region. The government has recently completed the process of breaking up state agricultural co-operatives and turning the land over to its occupants. Minerals, principally iron ore and phosphates, are the other major export.

Algeria's principal trading partners are France, Germany, Italy and Spain - it currently supplies a quarter of European natural gas imports. This proportion is likely to increase with the construction of a new pipeline linking coastal terminals to newly developed Saharan gas fields.

From Europe, Algeria imports most of its industrial equipment and consumer goods. The IMF and other Western donors have provided loans and aid packages, conditional on liberalising economic reforms and the sale of state-owned industrial assets - the government has, by and large, been prepared to meet these.

As the security crisis has eased in the last few years, economic links between Algeria and the EU have grown. In April 2002, Algeria signed an Association Agreement with the EU, which aimed at boosting both-way trade.

GDP: 

US$167 billion (2008).

Main exports: 

Petroleum, natural gas and minerals.

Main imports: 

Industrial equipment and consumer goods.

Main trading partners: 

France, Germany, Italy, Spain and USA.

Staying in touch in Algeria

Mobile phone: 

Roaming agreements exist but coverage is mostly limited to main towns.

Internet: 

There are Internet cafés in all larger towns.

Post: 

Mail posted in any of the main cities along the coast takes three to four days to reach Europe; posted elsewhere, it could take much longer. Parcels sent by surface mail may take up to two months to reach Algeria.

Post office hours: 

Generally Sat-Wed 0800-1700; Thurs 0800-1200; but the main post office in Algiers (5 boulevard Mohamed Khémisti) is open 24 hours.

Media: 

Algeria's TV and radio stations are state-controlled, but there is a lively private press which is often critical of the authorities. Although there is no overt censorship, legislation sets out prison terms and fines for insulting or defaming the president, MPs, judges and the army.

Press: 

• Daily newspapers are printed in Arabic or French.
• The main French-language dailies are El Watan, Liberté, Le Quotidien d'Oran and La Tribune.
• El Khabar is one of the leading Arabic-language dailies.
• Another daily, Horizons, has an English section.

Television: 

• Enterprise Nationale de Télévision (ENTV) is state-run.
• The use of satellite dishes is widespread; some satellite TV stations, such as BRTV, a Berber station based in France, target viewers in Algeria, and European channels are widely watched.

Radio: 

• Algerian Radio, operated by state-run Radio-Télévision Algérienne, runs national Arabic, Berber and French networks and several local stations.

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