International standards for building sector

Article - June 28, 2012

In the housing and related infrastructure sectors, companies from Spain, France, Turkey, China and South Korea are lending their expertise to the Algerian construction workers, and by doing so, are helping the country to meet its target of building two million new homes by 2017

FOREIGN COMPANIES ARE HELPING IMPROVE LOCAL SKILLS

When the government first proposed its ambitious house-building programme, indigenous Algerian companies lacked the expertise needed to meet such goals and required help from abroad.

Over the years, however, they have acquired more skills and are now playing a larger role. According to Mohamed Rehaimia, President and CEO of the OPGI in Hussein Dey, the “share of foreign firms working in housing does not exceed 5 or 6 per cent.”

OPGI is part of the Economic Interest Group, or GIE in its French initials, and welcomes partnerships with both public and private builders. GIE has signed a memorandum of understanding with France’s Union of Social Housing (L’Union Sociale pour l’Habitat), a union that brings together all French public operators in the field of social housing.