Statement by President von der Leyen at G20 Session I: "Inclusive and sustainable economic growth - leaving no one behind"

Thank you President Ramaphosa for the warm welcome here in Johannesburg.

This is the first G20 Summit on African soil. This highlights the vital role of Africa on the global stage. President Costa focused on debt, I will focus on trade. I want to start with a positive figure. The IMF‘s take on global economic growth is somewhat reassuring: Just above 3 % for the coming years. This reflects a certain degree of resilience of the global economy. But the level of uncertainty in global markets is exceptionally high: The World Uncertainty Index is twice as high as it was at the beginning of the year. And this does have a cost as the first consequence of uncertainty is freezing investments. External imbalances remain way too high as well. It is not possible for a large economy to have a share of world manufacturing production, which is 2 to 3 times bigger than its share in the world's consumption.  External imbalances are rooted in domestic policies and imbalances. And they cannot be addressed by using trade policy tools.

Addressing global imbalances requires coordinated and cooperative action: With the help of our international institutions, the IMF, the WTO and the World Bank, we should have a genuine assessment of global imbalances where root causes are discussed. Europe needs to shoulder its responsibilities and boost investment, but I repeat this is a collective responsibility. We should all put our own house in order to rebalance excess savings and investment, where needed. Cooperation is essential. The weaponisation of dependencies only creates losers. We need to get back to a rules-based system. A system that enables us to address the challenges we face today, from the clean and digital transition to fair conditions of competition. We want the World Trade Organisation to be at the centre of this system. But it requires deep and comprehensive reform. And the EU is ready to engage on this, without any taboo.

We need to build coalitions to take the work forward on reforming the system. And this is why we invest in the G20. And this is why the EU is launching a dialogue with the 12 members of the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership). The European Union's bilateral trade agenda also contributes to rules-based trade and investment conditions: Our network of FTAs is already the biggest in the world. And the agreements we have reached with Mercosur, Mexico and Indonesia further strengthen it. We are working non-stop with India to do the same – but also with Australia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and the UAE. I am also proud to highlight that the EU and South Africa have just concluded a Clean Trade and Investment Partnership (CTIP), which will facilitate trade and investment in clean supply chains such as green hydrogen, renewable energy and critical raw materials. So I am very much looking forward to our cooperation on addressing global imbalances and strengthening the rules-based trading system.