China's CITIC delivers final section of Algeria's landmark East-West Highway project

ALGIERS -- A landmark Algerian highway built to connect 17 provinces has been completed with China's CITIC Construction delivering its final 84-km segment on Saturday.

As the final leg of the ambitious East-West Highway project, the 84-km project stretches from Drean in the easternmost province of El Tarf to the town of Raml Souk bordering Tunisia.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony held in El Tarf, Algerian Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane hailed the highway's strategic significance in substantially facilitating people's travel, and promoting economic exchanges between Algeria and Tunisia.

Praising the "exceptional quality of work," he added that Algerian engineers and technicians gained valuable hands-on experience from building the highway.

During the ceremony, Deputy General Manager of CITIC Construction Algeria Qi Shujie said the Chinese engineers, facing challenges like high roadbed filling and landslides since the company took over the construction of the 84-km section in 2017, completed the project on time.

He noted that between 2006 and 2012, the CITIC had also helped to build 528 km of the highway as being one of the Chinese companies undertaking the project.

CITIC Construction also fulfilled social responsibilities by establishing a management institute and a national quality control center, training thousands of Algerian technicians, and supporting community initiatives, including participation in social activities such as donations for needy families during the holy month of Ramadan, construction of forest firebreaks, and flood relief, the company said in a statement.