After years of waiting, the project for the new city of Bouinan, situated southwest of Algiers in the department of Bilda, is finally closer to becoming a reality.

By Rafik Sabounji, Algiers

A consortium of South Korean companies are finalising an investment of close to a billion dollars in the new city of Bouinan. The project will span five years. They have affirmed that that will build an ensemble of residential and commercial buildings. They also intend to create 10,000 homes which would absorb 80% of the financing. The remainder of the project will be used for commercial purposes.

This project is coming into being less than a month after the signing of an agreement between the Algerian government and Gulf Finance House (GFH) of Bahrain to set up an economic development area in the future city of Bouinan. The edifice will cover 208 km2.

To absorb growth

This investment is estimated to be $3 billion US. The GF area of the future economic centre, which will absorb a part of the growth of the cities of Blida and Algiers, is the second of its kind after Mumbai (India) launched in 2007. The area will include areas specialised in a number of fields such as energy, financial services, telecommunications, ICTs as well as residences and recreational facilities.

The area will include areas specialised in a number of fields such as energy, financial services, telecommunications, ICTs as well as residences and recreational facilities.Like the Bahrain project, the South Korean venture will be headed by the Minister of Development, Environment and Tourism. Chérif Rahmani, the current head of the department, is committed to realising this vast project of new cities that he fine-tuned in the 90s. His return to the department coincides with the re-launching of new urban centres which are beginning to take shape, particularly in Sidi Abdallah to the west of Algiers. This new city is dedicated to technologies while Sidi Abdallah, its twin city to the south of Mitidja Plain, is devoted to biotechnologies, especially applications relevant to agriculture.