The Society held its 8th Country-Study meeting on 26th February at the International House in Tokyo, with the presence of H.E.Mr．Mohamed El Amine Bencherif, Ambassador of the Republic of Algeria to Japan. (Number of attendants; 24 persons.)

The ambassador made his presentation as follows:
-Algeria is the largest country in Africa and the Arab world and the 10th in the world.
-It is located in the center of North Africa, bordered to the north by the Mediterranean Sea, and had deep relations with great civilizations of the area. Algeria also had influenced those civilizations.
-It has developed having relations with the Mediterranean Sea, the Arab world and the African continent.
-Algeria has beaches, plains, high agricultural plateaus and　the Sahara. It also has many touristic assets.
-It has rich natural resources such as hydrocarbons　(oil reserves and natural gas),　deposits of phosphate, Zinc, Gold, Uranium, Tungsten, etc.
-Its economy ranks the fourth in Africa, and is classified as an upper middle-income country. The government has made efforts to diversify the economy　and to develop renewable energy including solar energy.
-In order to attain economic reform, it is necessary to develop work force in the field of mining and manufacturing industries. Moreover, the priority sectors to be developed are industry, tourism and agriculture including fishery for better food security.

-Algeria has modern infrastructures such as international airports, trains, highways and so on. Its labor forces, which is 12.32 million (2019), can also be utilized to attract investment from foreign countries. The government is trying to attract investment by the withdrawal of 51/49 rule, governing foreign investment in Algeria and will adopt policies more propitious to investments.

-On Algeria’s diplomacy, it has played an effective role in the settlement of crisis of the hostages of U. S. citizens in Teheran in 1981, and it played an important role when the peace treaty between Ethiopia and Eritrea was signed in Algiers in 2000. It also has good relationship with the EU.

With regard to the Sahel region, Algeria reiterates its solidarity with the countries in the region in the fight against terrorism. In Africa, it continues to be active in the African Union. In the field of fight against terrorism, it continues to defeat terrorism with the policy of national reconciliation, by pursuing a comprehensive de-radicalization policy. Algeria has also made efforts for peace among the neighboring countries.

-On Algeria’s bilateral relationship with Japan, it has a long history. Algeria opened its office in Japan before independence. Japan was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Algeria on July 4, 1962, a day before the official declaration of independence, on July 5,1962. In addition, in 1964, both Algeria and Japan opened their embassies.
Since then, both countries have had good relations with each other, and made official visits of political leaders.
-At economic level, Algeria is the 4th economic partner of Japan in Africa.
Algerian exports to Japan consist mainly of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petroleum products. Algerian importations from Japan cover cars, industrial equipment and electronics produces.

The questions and comments raised by the attendants after the presentation include (1) can there be any way to simplify the procedure to get visas for entry into Algeria ? (2) Tuaregs in your country are famous for the skills to produce beautiful accessories and jewelries for women, which attract Japanese customers. In this regard, we would like to know the possibility to get the help of your embassy in order to make contacts with them, (3) we would like to know more about Algeria’s economic relationship with the neighboring countries, especially with Morocco and Tunisia, (4) would like to know more about the finance of you country, (5) it was explained that a comprehensive “de-radicalization policy” has been taken in its fight against terrorism. We can understand it and there must have been difficulties to put this policy in practice especially in view of the various attitudes of the countries in the region. In this regard I would like to know some more about this policy.

ベンシャリフ駐日アルジェリア大使との懇談会

２月２６日午後、国際文化会館において、モハメド・エル・アミーン・ベンシェリフ駐日アルジェリア大使に同国事情を伺う会を開催しました（会員企業等から出席者２４名）。先ずベンシェリフ大使より、同国の概況について、アフリカ最大の面積を有し（アラ世界でも1位であり、世界では１０位）、歴史的には地中海沿岸の中央部に位置することから、古くから地中海地域の諸文明の影響を受けるとともに、他の文明にも影響を与えて来たこと、地中海、アラブ、アフリカの全てと関係を有して発展してきたこと、平野、農業地域、山岳地帯、サハラ砂漠などの多様性のある地域を有し、観光業も発達していること、資源としては原油、天然ガスの２大資源の他、リン鉱石、亜鉛、金、ウラニウム、タングステンなども埋蔵している、経済面ではアフリカ第４位の経済力を有し、高位中所得国である、また同国はエネルギー資源以外の経済の多角化を目指し、太陽光をはじめとする再生可能エネルギー開発にも力を入れている、経済改革面では鉱工業戦略的開発のための人材育成、食糧安全保障のための農業・漁業の近代化促進、観光開発などを目指している、その他道路、鉄道他の交通機関等のインフラ面の長所及び労働力などを生かし、投資を促進しているが、５１／４９%ルールに基づく外国からの投資受け入れをより促進したい、外交政策としては、同国はこれまでも１９８１年テヘランでの米国人人質問題の解決への貢献、エチオピアとエリトリアの平和条約をアルジェで結ぶことへの貢献（２０００年）などの努力を積み重ねているが、地中海地域の平和のための貢献の他、ＥＵとも良好な関係を有している。

アフリカにおいては、サヘル地域のテロ撲滅に協力し、ＡＵにおいても積極的役割を果たしている、テロ対策面では引き続き急進的思想の穏健化などにより国民融和の推進と近隣国における紛争の平和的解決を支持している、また日本との2国関係では、両国の関係は古く、独立前にアルジェリアは日本に事務所を開いていたが、1961年7月5日の独立前日の4日に日本はアルジェリアの独立を承認し、1964年、相互に大使館を開設した、その後両国は要人が相互に訪問するなどの関係を続けており、現在アルジェリアは日本との経済関係ではアフリカ第4位の国である、アルジェリアから日本への輸出はＬＮＧ（液化ガス）と石油製品が主なものであり、日本からの輸入は車、工業設備品および電気製品などが主なものである、などの諸点について説明しました。

その後会員企業等から、（１）日本においてアルジェリアへの入国査証を取得する場合の手続きがもう少し簡単にならないか、（２）貴国南部のトゥアレグ族が作るネックレスなどの婦人用装飾品は日本の婦人の間で高い人気を得ているが、
買い付けの交渉のためトゥアレグ族と接触することについて。貴大使館の助力を得ることが可能か、（３）貴国の近隣国、特にモロッコ、チュニジアなどとの経済関係はどのようなものか、（４）財政と経済についてもう少し知りたい、（５）資料23ページに「テロリズムと戦うアルジェリア」として、急進思想の穏健化（de-radicalization）を試みてきたと説明されているが、近隣国にはいろいろな国があり、ご苦労も多いと思うところ、この努力についてもう少し詳しく知りたい、などの質問が出されました。
（担当委員：鈴木優梨子）