Ten heads of state are expected in Algiers for the 7th summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum
Algiers hopes that ten of the 22 member countries of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) will be represented at the highest level. They are Iran, Bolivia, Qatar, Iraq, Mauritania, Mauritania, Mozambique, Venezuela, Senegal, Tunisia and Libya.
Nine other countries will be represented at ministerial level (Energy Ministers). They are Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, Angola, Azerbaijan, Oman and Italy, which will be the guest of honour at the summit.
Peru and the United Arab Emirates will be represented by their ambassadors accredited in Algiers. Malaysia will be represented by the Secretary General of its Ministry of Energy.
The Algerian authorities have made every effort to ensure the total success of the organisation of this GECF summit, which will be held at the International Conference Centre, inaugurated in 2016, near the Club des Pins seaside resort in Algiers. It is ranked among the largest conference centres in the world. "Algeria will spare no effort to ensure the success of this important summit," the official APS news agency reports, quoting Mohamed Arkab, Algerian minister of energy and mines, as saying in a speech at the opening of the summit's extraordinary preparatory ministerial meeting on Thursday 28 February.
The gathering of such a large number of heads of state, which Algeria has not seen since the inauguration of President Tebboune in December 2019, is being prepared with fervour by Algiers, where a Council of Ministers has been dedicated to it, and a media campaign is carrying out an unparalleled hype to make the event a consecration of Algeria as a "world leader in the field of energy, particularly in the gas sector", as the APS points out.
In this context, Thursday 29 February saw the inauguration of the GECF Gas Research Institute, "considered as a leading centre of innovation and research, dedicated to promoting the understanding and application of gas-related technologies worldwide," comments the Arabic-language daily Echourouq.
Algiers Declaration
The summit will last only one day, on 2 March. The participating heads of state and ministers are due to adopt the "Algiers Declaration", a document that will be presented this Friday to the Extraordinary Ministerial Council in preparation for the summit scheduled for Saturday. The first draft of this declaration has been prepared by experts representing GECF member countries. According to the French-language daily Horizons, "the final touches to the Algiers Declaration were made during the meeting of the high-level 'ad hoc' working group in charge of the preparation of the 7th GECF Summit".
It should be recalled that not all gas producing and/or exporting countries are members of the GECF. The United States, Canada, Norway, Saudi Arabia and China, among the largest producers, are not members of this forum.
