Algeria and Italy sign $455 million agriculture deal

ALGIERS, July 7: Algeria and Italy on Saturday signed a 420-million-euro deal ($455 million) for an agricultural project in the North African country, the Algerian agriculture ministry said in a statement. The scheme, which Italian officials called their countrys largest agricultural investment in the southern Mediterranean, covers 36,000 hectares (89,000 acres) in Algerias Timimoune province.
It will produce wheat, lentils and beans, among other foods, in the hopes of increasing Algerian non-hydrocarbon exports, officials said during the agreement ceremony.
It is also expected to create 6,700 jobs, they said. The deal came months after Algeria signed a $3.5 billion agreement with Qatars largest dairy producer Baladna to establish a vast cow-breeding facility for the production of powdered milk.    —AFP