Algeria says in talks with carmakers on 1st plant

ALGIERS, July 22 (Reuters) - Algeria's government has started negotiations with several international automakers to build the first car factory in the North African country, a minister said on Wednesday.

"We are in talks with major international carmakers. The results will be known soon," Industry and Investment Promotion Minister Abdelhamid Temmar told reporters.

"We will have completed the negotiations before October or November."

Temmar did not name the firms involved in the negotiations. Media reported last year that Renault (RENA.PA) was working on plans for a plant in Algeria, but the company announced plans to built the factory in neighbouring Morocco instead.

Algeria imported 153,292 vehicles in the first half of 2009, down from 171,277 in the same period last year, according to customs data.

The OPEC-member nation of 35 million has been struggling to diversify its economy away from oil and gas, which account for about 97 percent of exports.

But despite government promises to implement economic reforms and improve the business climate, non-oil foreign investment lags behind Algeria's neighbours.

(Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed; Editing by John Stonestreet)