Council of Ministers in Algeria: adoption of projects relating to the sectors of Health, Industry, Agriculture and Communication

The President of the Republic, Supreme Chief of the Armed Forces, Minister of National Defence, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, chaired, on Sunday, the periodic meeting of the Council of Ministers devoted to the presentation and adoption of several statements relating to sectors of Health, Industry, Agriculture and Communication, indicates a press release from the Presidency of the Republic of which here is the APS translation.

“The President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Supreme Chief of the Armed Forces, Minister of National Defense, chaired Sunday, August 8, 2021 the periodic meeting of the Council of Ministers.

After listening to a presentation by the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Aïmene Benabderrahmane, and presentations by a number of ministers on various projects, discussed and approved, the President of the Republic gave the following instructions:

Concerning the Health sector:

• Increase the production of oxygen currently estimated at more than 360,000 liters, to 470,000 liters with the entry into service of the Bethioua plant in Oran, in addition to 100,000 liters imported by boat, every two days, to satisfy demand and anticipate any possible emergency.
• Respect the criteria and technical conditions for the reception and storage of oxygen in hospitals.
• Accelerate the pace of vaccination to achieve collective immunity, particularly in the most affected and populated wilayas, to name only Algiers, Oran, Sétif and Constantine, in order to reach the rate of 60% of the number of people vaccinated.
• Schedule the entry into service of the local production plant for the Sino-Algerian vaccine for the month of next September with a capacity of two million doses / month.
• The next social re-entry of the bodies of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Training, depends on the vaccination of all.
• Make citizens aware of the need to ensure careful medical surveillance of any use of medical oxygen at home.
• Unify information related to the Covid-19 pandemic, during Communication operations, which will now be the responsibility of the Ministry of Health.

Regarding the Industry sector:

• Develop the industrial sector by moving towards the creation of industrial, agricultural and urban land agencies.
• Carefully inventory the unexploited industrial land (allocated and unallocated).
• Speed ​​up the promulgation of new laws on investment, to encourage partnership and create employment opportunities, while ensuring a balance in terms of investment between the regions of the North, the South and the Hauts-Hauts Trays.
• Find effective solutions, open the capital of public companies, including banks and move away from administrative management.
• Solve the problems of industrial zones, organize their operation and review their management, especially as they contain unexploited land.

Mr. President instructed the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance as well as the Minister of the Interior to supervise the immediate creation of activity zones, for the creation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) intended for young people across all municipalities .

• Review the Single Window to make it efficient and rapid in the realization of real investments in various sectors and continue the fight against all forms of corruption.
• Respect the specifications provided for in the industrial sector, far from fraud, exploitation and exhaustion of State resources, as was the case in the past.

Concerning the Agriculture sector:

• Encourage the processing industry through the creation of pilot units at State expense for the production of sugar beet and vegetable oil, the objective being to encourage private investors and make these units training centers in the future.
• Identify agricultural lands and determine their nature as well as the suitability of their crops for modern agriculture based on scientific standards, as being the future of the country.
• Review the method of financing breeders, taking into account their interests and those of the State.
• Move towards fruit tree growing which is an activity adapted to the climate of the Hauts-Plateaux.
• Entrust the importation of wheat to the Algerian Interprofessional Cereals Office (OAIC) ​​on an exclusive basis, and this following the recording of overruns in the matter.

– Speed ​​up the entry into service of the plant for the production of vegetable oils in the wilaya of Jijel, before the end of the current year.

Regarding the Communication sector:

• Accelerate the promulgation of laws governing the activity of the audiovisual industry, the written press, and the ethics of the profession.
• Review the organizational text of the Audiovisual Regulatory Authority (ARAV) so as to enable it to act upstream and downstream.
• Review the order of priorities in the field of communication and work to adapt the legal texts with the provisions of the 2020 Constitution which guarantees and preserves freedoms.
• Define the documents requested in the issuance of the authorization to create newspapers, and this in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution on the consecration of freedoms of expression.
• The President of the Republic ordered the preparation of legal texts for the creation of a penal pole to fight against cybernetic crimes, and this in application of the decisions of the last High Security Council.
• Work to improve the means of communication with the citizen in all fields, and place this point in the priorities of government action which will make it possible to take the appropriate decisions and resolve the problems and concerns of the citizen.

Before the end of the meeting, the Council of Ministers approved draft presidential decrees relating to the finance and energy sectors.

Original article in French can be found here:
https://www.aps.dz/algerie/125863-reunion-du-conseil-des-ministres-debat-et-adoption-de-projets-relatifs-aux-secteurs-de-la-sante-l-industrie-l-agriculture-et-la-communication