Algeria is one of Africa's largest energy producers, pumping about 1.4 million barrels per day, and foreign companies streamed into the country to participate in its oil and gas industry.
In 2008, however, the government enacted new rules limiting stakes of foreign investors in Algerian companies to 49 per cent and barring foreign industrial operators from owning land on which they established ventures.
Those policies induced some foreigners to leave. The Dubai developer Emaar Properties pulled out of Algeria in response to the strictures.
Other Gulf companies have continued to put money into Algeria in recent years.
They include Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments, which set up a joint venture with the Algerian government last year to build vehicles and engines in the country.
Five German companies including MAN Ferrostaal and Daimler were tapped to provide manufacturing expertise.
DP World, the global ports operator owned by Dubai World, won a 30-year concession in 2009 to manage the Port of Algiers in a joint venture with the Algiers Port Authority. Abu Dhabi's Emirates International Investment Companyrevealed plans in 2008 to develop a US$5 billion (Dh18.36bn) urban complex in Algeria called Dounya Parc.
Algeria has also attracted a number of large foreign energy investments. BP says it is the largest foreign investor in Algeria. It has two major projects there - In Salah Gas and In Amenas - and is involved in other exploration and oil recovery efforts.
Foreign direct investment in Algeria rose substantially between 2005 and 2009 to $2.85bn, according to the most recent figure available from the World Bank.
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