Germany-Algeria-Merkel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to visit Algeria on Wednesday for political and economic talks with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm announced Friday at a routine weekly news conference.

Merkel will lead a high-ranking economic delegation during the two-day trip to the North African country.

The German leader is also scheduled to hold a speech for the German-Algerian Chamber of Commerce in Algiers.

Germany has boosted its role in major infrastructural projects in Algeria over the past three years and is also interested in the energy sources of the Arab country in a bid to lessen its dependency on Russian oil and gas.

Algeria is the third biggest supplier of gas to the European Union after Russia and Norway.

Last year, Germany was Algeria's fifth important exporter with a volume of 1.76 billion euros after France, Italy, China and the US.