Long-term Investment or Shortterm Profit? The Divergence of Views on Technical Assistance to Algeria Between the Yugoslav Authorities and Self-managing Enterprises

This article explores the contested nature of Yugoslavia’s technical assistance programmes to the Global South, taking trade relations with Algeria as its case study. It highlights the conflicting viewpoints between Yugoslav state authorities and domestic self-managing enterprises regarding technical cooperation with developing countries. While the government viewed technical aid as a long-term investment in economic relations, the self-managing enterprises prioritized immediate profit-making, leading to a stalemate in the dispatching of technical experts overseas. The market-oriented logic of the enterprises clashed with the government’s vision, resulting in a failure to allocate sufficient resources for technical cooperation programmes abroad. Ultimately, the actions and attitudes of Yugoslav enterprises significantly shaped perceptions of the country as self-interested “capitalist profiteers” in the eyes of their counterparts in the Global South.