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Foreign Minister Wadephul is travelling to Panama and to the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Atlanta to promote free trade, secure supply chains and global partnerships
Panama City © XinHua
Foreign Minister Wadephul’s visit to Central America and to the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in the United States will focus on achieving even closer networks with global partners and on economic issues, namely free trade, secure supply chains and the freedom of navigation they require.
Foreign Minister Wadephul is today starting his journey to Panama and to the United States, where he will attend the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Atlanta. The G20 was set up in the late 1990s in response to severe financial and currency crises in Asia. At the time, an understanding was reached that still holds true today – in a globalised world, we all benefit from a thriving world economy.
Since then, the G20, which now accounts for around 85 percent of all economic output and some three quarters of global trade, has also become a forum for addressing global economic and trade matters. This dialogue is important, especially at a time when our world economy is increasingly affected by tariffs, unfair trade practices and market-distorting subsidies.
Prior to his departure, Foreign Minister Wadephul stated:
I am travelling to Atlanta for the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting to promote the principle of freedom in international economic relations. As an export-oriented nation, we depend on open trade routes, stable energy prices, resilient supply chains and reliable access to global markets.
Free trade, free market access and the strengthening of common rules, for example in the World Trade Organization (WTO), are crucial for Germany, as are more joint measures to tackle the energy transformation and address the technologies of the future.
Current geopolitical conflicts and their impact on energy supplies and global supply chains will also be on the agenda at the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting. It is clear that Russia’s increasingly brutal actions against Ukraine and attacks on commercial ships in the Black Sea pose an enormous threat to the world economy and in particular to food security in the Global South. Meanwhile, Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz and the Houthi attacks on Bab al-Mandab are jeopardising the global energy supply.
Even though we in the G20 sometimes view the world from very different perspectives, one thing is clear to the overwhelming majority: Russia and Iran must finally stop hijacking trade routes and thus provoking economic crises and hunger,
Foreign Minister Wadephul said prior to his departure.
To those who seek fair cooperation in these unstable times, we offer our network of global partnerships. The G20 is the ideal forum to weave this network tighter.
Foreign Minister Wadephul will also use the G20 framework to this end, as its members include important regional powers such as India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Brazil and Mexico. Deepening economic relations with these countries, including by moving ahead with an ambitious European Union free trade agenda, will open up new opportunities for our companies, protect jobs and strengthen supply chains.
Before visiting the United States, Foreign Minister Wadephul will travel to Panama, a staunch supporter of the multilateral order and the main market for German firms in Central America. The Panama Canal is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world and is becoming ever more important, in part because of restrictions on freedom of navigation on other routes.
Foreign Minister Wadephul underlined:
The Panama Canal connects two of the world’s oceans and is thus a lifeline for global trade. I am very grateful to Panama for maintaining this waterway so responsibly and ensuring it is fit for the future, as well as more generally focusing on preserving balance in the region.