ALGIERS — Sonarem Group plans to launch major mining projects with foreign partners with a view to developing mineral resources, said the group’s CEO, Belkacem Soltani.

In a statement to APS on the sidelines of a conference on the mining sector and the economic diversification, organized on Monday evening, Soltani underlined that the group works in collaboration with the Omani, Chinese, Turkish and Canadian companies on mineral projects that will be soon executed to strengthen the sector’s contribution to wealth, job creation.

The mining sector, which shows positive indicators, constitutes one of the main pillars of the economic diversification, said the official, insisting in the importance of developing natural resources through industrial transformation and governance improvement.

International partnerships are essential in this move, he said.

The group’s roadmap is based on the development of mining industry, development of resources via industrial transformation, government improvement and training of qualified human resources, he said.

Underlining that it was no longer possible to export raw materials in their crude state in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Sonarem’s CEO emphasized that priority was now given to the local industrial transformation of raw materials into industrialized products that Algeria imported in the past.

At the opening of the meeting, Soltani said that the group advocated an ambitious strategic vision based on innovation and proactivity to ensure the sustainability of its activities and strengthen its position as the main supplier of raw materials, reaffirming its commitment in favor of sustainability and environmental responsibility.