(ANSAmed) - CAIRO - Egypt's investments in Algeria total almost 740 million euros, as against the 11 million invested by Algeria in Egypt. These figures reflect a potential consequence of the politico-diplomatic war being waged between the two countries, triggered off by recent events on and off the football field in qualifying for the World Cup finals. These numbers alone are enough to show that, should the affair get worse and if appeals to boycott Egyptian products and calls to suspend trade launched by some Algerian MPs at the height of the crisis have any effect, it would be Egypt who comes off worse. ''Business affected, too'' reads the English-language weekly supplement to the government-backed daily Al Ahram. Apart from citing figures released by the General Authority for Investments and Free Zones, the paper speaks of damages totalling 54 million dollars being suffered by Orascom Telecom in the attacks on its group's shops and premises following the spread of rumours in Algeria that some Algerian fans had been killed during the match on November 14 in Cairo. It also points out that the Francophone daily, Tribune, has over past days said that the Algerian government intends to nationalise the branches of foreign companies which intend to up roots from the country as well as to step up state control of the economy. The question relates not only to some recent measures taken by the Algerian government such as the non-retroactive one which obliges foreign-based import companies to cede 30% of their capital to a local partner, or require a 50% involvement of an Algerian partner in any foreign investment project. The newspaper in fact cites an Efg-Hermes study on the impact of the new measures which oblige foreign companies benefitting from tax relief to reinvest an equivalent amount in Algeria. It also reminds its readers of the intention of the Algerian government, announced by Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia on August 10, ''to take a majority stake in any future investment project involving foreign capital, without specifying the date and the industries to which the measure would be applied''. Another piece of news at the centre of the issue was made official at the height of the soccer-fuelled political crisis: that the Algerian authorities are forcing Orascom Telecom Algeria to pay around 596 million dollars, in back payments for the period 2005-2007 and fines: it is a decision which Orascom soon said it would appeal against. On the other hand, Al Ahram also notes that the Ota subsidiary in Algeria, Diezzy, has over eight years taken about 63% of the market, without counting the Algerian activities of Orascom Cement, the construction arm of the group, and that of Arab Contractors, a company 100% owned by the Egyptian government. Today, says the French-language weekly of Al Ahram, there are 32 Egyptian investment projects in Algeria, with Egypt the main investor in the country and at least 10 thousand Egyptian citizens working there. As for trade, it is up 53% in the space of one year. These are figures that give an idea of the importance of the Algerian market for Egypt, but not only, if the rumours are true that in the event of a cooling in trade relations, other countries are standing by to jump in. Meanwhile in the shop windows of some Cairo streets, you can still read the sign: 'Algerians not allowed in'.(ANSAmed).