European union wishes Algeria will join agadir FTZ

The European Union wishes that Algeria will join "the very important" initiative of Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, and Jordan to set up a free trade zone (FTZ), European Commission spokesman said Wednesday.

"It is only within the frame of such a regional initiative that the two banks of the Mediterranean can develop," the spokesman said.

The four countries signed last May in the Moroccan Atlantic resort of Agadir a declaration setting up the FTZ. The free trade zone will be extended to six other Arab countries, namely Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.

The move means to consolidate the negotiation ability and competitiveness of Arab-Mediterranean countries, whether those already bound to the European Union by association accords, those having economic relations with it, such as Palestine, or those negotiating partnership accords with the Union, like Algeria and Syria.

The partnership accord between the Union and Algeria was signed this Wednesday in Brussels, in the presence of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.