During a working and inspection visit to the wilaya of Sidi Bel‑Abbès, Industry Minister Yahia Bachir stressed the need to boost productive investment and diversify industrial activities, highlighting the importance of enhancing the attractiveness of industrial zones to drive economic growth.
Speaking at the site of the expansion project for the Sidi Bel‑Abbès industrial zone, the minister, accompanied by the wali Kamel Hadji, affirmed that supporting and diversifying investment “will help stimulate economic growth and create new jobs.” He called for speeding up the development and utilization of these areas, ensuring they are fully connected to all essential networks—electricity, gas, water, and fiber‑optic connectivity.
Bachir emphasized the need to encourage investors to develop industrial projects in subcontracting, the manufacture of spare parts for cars and trucks, and the electronics industry. He received a briefing from Industry Director Djamel Bensouna on the zone, which spans 54 hectares and includes 88 plots, 46 of which are earmarked for investment projects while the remainder are reserved for infrastructure. A budget of over 1.5 billion dinars has been allocated to the development of this investment zone, the director noted.
During his visit to the same commune, the minister toured several firms under his portfolio, including the private agricultural equipment manufacturer Famag Sonalika, where he urged the company’s management to “coordinate closely with the Ministry of Industry to develop this enterprise and expand its production capacity.” This assembly unit, specialized in mounting and assembling agricultural tractors, currently produces around 5,000 tractors per year.
Bachir also visited the National Electronics Industries Enterprise (ENIE), a leading manufacturer of televisions, mobile phones, electronic payment devices, printed circuit boards, and electronic panels. He urged ENIE’s managers to “seek effective partners to increase output of the various equipment produced.”
He likewise inspected the electronics research and development laboratory, which comprises five units dedicated to developing electronic products and supervised by engineers and doctoral researchers. Finally, he visited the National Enterprise for Harvesting Equipment, which manufactures combine harvesters along with seeding and ploughing equipment. On this occasion, the minister underscored “the importance of training operators of modern harvesting machinery to ensure proper use and preservation of these machines.”