Following the 22nd GECF Ministerial Meeting, successfully delivered under the Algerian Presidency in 2020, this year the Republic is shouldering the responsibility of the GECF Executive Board Chair, strategising activities of this governing body of the Forum. In 2023, Algeria will host the 7th GECF Summit of Heads of State and Government, as announced at the 5th GECF Summit in 2019 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
“I would like to attest to the very prolific and vivid contributions Algeria has made to the success and legacy of the GECF as one of its Founding Members,” HE Yury Sentyurin, GECF Secretary General emphasised in a congratulatory message to the President of the country on the occasion of Algeria’s Independence Day on 5 July. HE Yury Sentyurin also sent similar cables to the newly-appointed Prime Minister of Algeria as well as the Minister of Energy and Mines.
“Being one of the largest hydrocarbon producers in Africa and the world, your esteemed country has always been playing its leadership role in the energy sphere with wisdom and diligence. Organisations like ours thrive precisely because of the unwavering support of important stakeholders such as Algeria,” wrote the GECF Secretary General.
Meanwhile, the progress achieved on the establishment of the Algeria-based GRI – the centrepiece of GECF’s research and development ecosystem enjoying the same stature as the Forum’s Secretariat – stands as yet another shining testament to Algeria’s prominent role in the globally renowned platform.
It should be recalled, that the project has come into a spotlight thanks to the Republic’s national representatives’ initiative, supported by the GECF leaders at the 3rd GECF Summit in 2015. In fact, the final Declaration asserted the Member Countries’ determination to “enhance and strengthen cooperation, inter alia through the creation of a GECF Gas Research Institute, subject to satisfactory feasibility study result, recalling that the location of the Institute shall be in Algeria”.
The GECF GRI, whose leadership has been assumed by inaugural director, Mr Azzedine Adjeb from Algeria, takes upon itself increased importance against the backdrop of renewed scrutiny of natural gas and its place in safeguarding environmental sustainability.
“Our collective commitment to the GECF community is set to facilitate technology improvement in the gas and LNG industry in the GECF countries. Therefore, we are required to strengthen our cooperation on Digital Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things and Advanced Analytics in the industry,” said HE Sentyurin at the recently-held 8th GECF GRI Scientific Committee meeting on 29-30 June 2021.
“I’m confident that Mr Adjeb’s academic background and 31-year managerial experience in upstream, downstream, transportation and project management will enable the GRI project to reach its goals and objectives in favour of the GECF Members,” he added.
It’s worth mentioning that a number of well-skilled and seasoned professionals from Algeria lend their energies to the GECF to make progress on all its main deliverables. Operating at all levels of the Forum’s Secretariat staff ranking – from leadership to junior positions – Algerians form one of the largest group of nationals at the organisation’s headquarters, once more symbolising the foremost position of Algeria in the Forum’s community and inspiring the other Members to strengthen their engagement with the institution.
