ALGIERS, July 6 -- Algeria on Saturday signed a framework agreement with the Italian company Bonifiche Ferraresi to develop an integrated project for grain, legume, and pasta production in the Algerian southern province of Timimoun, Algeria's official APS news agency reported.

In his remarks at the signing ceremony, Algerian Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Youcef Chorfa said the project, worth 420 million euros (455 million U.S. dollars), aligns with Algeria's policy to enhance food security as part of the national plan to develop strategic sectors such as grains, legumes, sugar and oil plants, seeds, and milk.

According to Chorfa, this project would be the second major agricultural and industrial venture realized in Algeria recently, following a similar agreement signed in April with Qatar's Baladna company to establish a dairy farm and powdered milk production facility in the southern province of Adrar.

He added that these projects demonstrated the government's growing interest in opening agricultural investment to both public and private Algerian investors, in partnership with foreign partners.

Federico Vecchioni, CEO of Bonifiche Ferraresi, described the project as highly significant and strategic, given its international dimensions.

The project, spanning 36,000 hectares, will focus on producing wheat, lentils, dried beans, soybeans and chickpeas. It will also include facilities for pasta manufacturing, storage silos, and other infrastructure, with the potential to create over 6,700 jobs.

  - Xinhua