UNIDO ITPO Italy conducted a 5-day study tour (31st
March – 4th April 2008) for a delegation
of Algerian entrepreneurs and a representative of
the Algerian Ministry of Industry and Investment
Promotion. This tour was organized within the
framework of the Cooperation and Technical
Assistance Program of UNIDO HQ and the Algerian
Ministry of Industry and Investment Promotion –
“Renforcement des capacités des structures d’appui
et assistance à la mise à niveau des PME de
l’industrie agro-alimentaire en Algérie” – , The aim
of this study tour was to facilitate business
cooperation between Italian and Algerian companies
in the production of the agro-food products such as
pasta, semolina, flour, biscuits, soft drinks, and
fruit juices.
The study tour enabled 4 Algerian enterprises to
establish useful contacts and gave rise to
interesting opportunities for future collaboration
by means of a rich schedule of institutional
meetings, company visits, and business meetings,
UNIDO
ITPO Italy arranged a joint meeting with UNIPI - the
Italian Union of Pasta Producers - and ITALMOPA –
the Italian Union of Flour Producers. UNIPI offered
its help and technical assistance to the Algerian
producers of pasta in order to help their new-born
professional association to join the International
Pasta Organization (IPO). Membership in the IPO, of
which Italy holds the General Secretariat, would
guarantee a mutually profitable sharing of
information and expertise. The critical situation of
the milling industry, due to the rise in raw
material prices, did not allow its association,
ITALMOPA , to envisage any kind of collaboration, at
least in the short term.
The meeting with the Italo-Arab Chamber of Commerce
illustrated opportunities offered by the
“Italo-Algerian Business Forum”, established through
the 2005 agreement between the Italian and Algerian
governments, and promoted by the Chamber. The Italo-Arab
Chamber also offered to assist the Algerian
entrepreneurs in their scouting for business
partners and financing in Italy.
In collaboration with the Association of Parma
industries (UPI), UNIDO ITPO Italy organized and
promoted the event “Partnership Opportunities
between Algerian and Italian companies” at UPI’s
offices in Parma. Two meetings were held on that
occasion, one describing business opportunities in
Algeria and Parma; the other, a B2B session in
which 16 Italian companies participated and 27
business-to-business meetings were organized. Two
company visits were also arranged in Parma: one to
the Barilla production plants, and one to OCME, a
producer of machinery for beverage packaging. As a
result of these meetings, negotiations are currently
being held between an Algerian and Italian company
for the supply of a glass bottling line.
