ALGERIA SUSPENDS CONSTRUCTION OF 1 MILLION HOUSES, WAITS FOR TRANSFER OF KNOW-HOW FROM TURKEY

ANKARA (A.A) - 14.05.2010 - Algerian Housing & Urban Development Minister Noureddine Moussa said Algeria halted the project for construction of 1 million houses until talks with Turkey's Housing Administration (TOKI) was completed.
Moussa who visited head of TOKI Erdogan Bayraktar said their government set out for constructing one million houses in five years noting however that they soon realised there were technical deficiencies.
He said they needed TOKI's know-how and experience to realise the project, adding that the project was cancelled until talks with TOKI were completed. He expressed eagerness to cooperate with Turkey saying that they did not want to loose time in this.
The two countries signed a MoU on Thursday for encouraging cooperation between parties in the fields of housing, urban planning and construction.
Turkey's foreign trade minister Zafer Caglayan said Tuesday following a meeting with Mousa that Algeria planned to build 1 million homes in the next four years and added that Turkey wanted to undertake construction of half of that.