General Saïd Chanegriha, Minister Delegate to the Algerian Minister of National Defense and Chief of People’s National Army Staff, presided over the opening of a national seminar entitled “Protecting the Country’s Vital Installations Against New Threats: Realities and Prospects for Improvement” on Tuesday, at the National Army Circle in Béni Messous.

Participating in this seminar, alongside the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Ministers, and the Advisor to the President of the Republic in charge of Security and Defense Affairs, were the Lieutenant General Commander the Land Forces, the Secretary General of the Ministry of National Defense, and the Commanders of the Forces and the Republican Guard.

The Chief of the Ministry of National Defense Staff, the Commander of the National Gendarmerie, the Commander of the 1st Military Region, the Chiefs of Departments, the Inspector General of the Army, the central directors of the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff of People’s National Army, as well as executives and university professors, also attended the seminar.

The seminar began with an opening address by General Chanegriha, in which he first welcomed the guests and participants before emphasizing that critical infrastructure has become a vital artery of life, sustaining the modern state with security and stability, and constituting an essential component of the national defense apparatus and a pillar of overall security, the Algerian Ministry of National Defence said in a statement.

“Critical infrastructure is no longer simply an economic asset, as its role has been consolidated to become a vital artery of life, sustaining the modern state with security and stability, driving the dynamics of integrated development, and contributing to the promotion of national security in all its dimensions,” he said.

“Therefore, the protection of critical infrastructure is a strategic and rational choice, constituting an essential component of the national defense apparatus and lying at the heart of overall security,” he added.

General Chanegriha affirmed that the People’s National Army makes a vital contribution to securing critical infrastructure and ensures the continuous updating of intervention plans for intervention teams, their training, and coordination among the various stakeholders.

“In this context, the People’s National Army, guided by the directives of the President of the Republic, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and Minister of National Defense, plays a fundamental and central role, contributing through its operational units and security apparatus to securing strategic infrastructure by implementing protection and intervention plans to counter various threats, whether terrorist, sabotage-related, cyber, or what are now called hybrid threats,” he stressed.

“The People’s National Army also ensures the ongoing updating and development of intervention plans for intervention teams and their training, as well as planning and coordination methods between different sectors, within the framework of a comprehensive approach based on anticipation rather than reaction, prevention rather than treatment, while strengthening the complementarity between the human factor and modern technologies,” he explained.

The General then officially opened the seminar. Subsequently, presentations were given, during which the participating professors and experts addressed various aspects of the topic, including the strategic and conceptual foundations of the protection of sensitive installations, the responsibilities of stakeholders and coordination mechanisms, the evolution of threats against sensitive infrastructure, the protection framework combining technology and the human factor, and the link between sensitive infrastructure and national defense: What strategic directions for sovereign protection against future threats?

The presentations were also punctuated by debates and contributions from experts and executives, who presented visions and ideas that helped enrich the work of the seminar and its recommendations. (Source & Photo © Algerian Ministry of National Defence)