Atlanta attorney Bachir Mihoubi will be leaving on a two-week trade mission Aug. 13 to northern Africa which will include a visit to Algeria with Ramtane Lamamra, the Algerian ambassador to the U.S.
The mission will include some 100 businesspeople, many from Mississippi who will be promoting machinery related to the oil and gas industries.
They also will promote dairy, grain and feed products, vegetable oils, building and pharmaceutical products, as well as mining telecommunication , computer and water resource equipment.
The mission is following up on the invitation of an Algerian business delegation which visited Mississippi in March and is to include several Mississippi state legislators and trade officials.
Mr. Mihoubi, who is originally from Algeria but has been educated in Canada and the U.S. where he received law degrees from the University of Ottawa and the University of Texas, said that the mission remains open to Georgia businesspeople who are interested in the northern African and Middle Eastern markets.
He settled in Atlanta three years ago when he began his international law practice at the firm of Troutman Sanders, believing the city was strategically well-positioned to take advantage of global business opportunities.
Muslim militants have been trying to overthrow the military-backed government in Algeria since the army canceled 1992 parliamentary elections that Islamic fundamentalists were poised to win.
But Mr. Mihoubi said that the participants in the mission should not fear violence because of the extreme security measures that will be taken to ensure their safety. The International Monetary Fund also has allocated a $1.6 billion, three-year loan program to help stabilize the country.
Mr. Mihoubi plans to visit Tunisia and Morocco on this trip as part from the Mississippi delegation. He may be reached at (770) 452-0706; fax, (770) 451-9910.