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The Week in Germany: Business and Technology March 2, 2007 Minister says Europe must Widen its Energy Sources
German Economics Minister Michael
Glos said recently that Europe must widen its sources of energy and
in the process strengthen links with North Africa. "Europe should be supplied not only from the east, but also more
strongly from the south. I can well imagine that in the future more Algerian
gas will come to Germany and Europe," Glos said in the Algerian capital
Algiers on the final day of a two day trip to the North African country. Algeria is the third biggest supplier of gas to the European Union after
Russia and Norway. Glos, representing the current German EU presidency, said he would welcome
the building of more pipelines between Algeria and Europe. In order to
reduce its dependency on Russian oil and gas the European Union wants
to develop alternative sources of supply. However, Glos warned against the formation of an international gas supplier
cartel like OPEC in the oil sphere: "Cartels don't suit free world
trade." Iran has suggested to Russia the setting up of a "gas OPEC"
to strengthen the influence of suppliers. Other possible members could
include Algeria, Qatar and Libya. Glos said that Algeria offers excellent opportunities for German industry
while Germany will invest $120 million in Algeria's infrastructure over
the next year. Germany's Siemens has concluded a multi-million dollar deal to supply
electrical switching stations for a new business center in Algiers. The
company is also involved in a consortium building an underground subway
transport system in the Algerian capital. Meanwhile Glos issued an invitation from German Chancellor Angela Merkel
to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to attend June's G8 summit
in Germany. He said the invitation underlines the significance of Africa
for this year's G8 presidency, which is held by Germany. Debt relief
is moreover a major part of German development policies vis-a-vis Africa,
and will be explored in further detail in a future issue of The Week in
Germany. (TWIG/dpa) Links:
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