Global economic organisations visit Berlin
Sustainable global economic development can only be achieved through cooperation, declared Chancellor Angela Merkel following a meeting with high-ranking representatives of the five international economic and financial organisations in Berlin.
2 min reading time
Multilateralism is currently experiencing a "difficult situation", said Angela Merkel. "That is how we all see it."
Photo: Bundesregierung/Bergmann
That is what makes fora like the G7 and the G20 so important, agreed all participants.
Alongside multilateralism and free trade, this tenth meeting looked at economic development in Africa and the G20’s "Compact with Africa". This is why this year the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) also attended.
Global economy remains healthy
The overall framework remains good. Worldwide growth rose to 3.8% in 2017. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is forecasting a slight rise in global economic growth to 3.9% in 2018/2019. The emerging economies in Asia and Europe are expected to continue to grow strongly, while growth will be more modest in other emerging economies and developing countries. Inflationary pressure remains low in spite of rising raw materials prices.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) expects the volume of trade to increase by 4.4% in 2018, although a continued escalation of trade-restricting measures could reduce this dramatically. For 2018 the International Labour Organization (ILO) expects global unemployment to fall slightly to 5.5%.
The Chancellor met with OECD Secretary-General José Ángel Gurría, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo, ILO Director-General Guy Ryder and World Bank Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva as well as Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank.
Dangers posed by inappropriate action
After the meeting the Chancellor stressed that the world is heading the right way "and we must not allow inappropriate action to throw us off course." Specifically, she mentioned unilateral measures and the US tariffs on steel and aluminium. She is, declared Angela Merkel, "totally convinced that sustainable development of the global economy is only possible through cooperation with a win-win situation".
Encouraging talks
With the "Compact with Africa" initiative, Germany "threw a stone into water", continued the Chancellor. She thanked the international organisations for their readiness to continue to work on this, even after Germany’s G20 Presidency came to an end. This meeting demonstrated, "that we feel a commitment to achieve the development goals laid out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development".
What was particularly encouraging was the declaration of Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, that the goals are achievable for the African continent. "So, this was an encouraging meeting today," the Chancellor summed up.