Over the next week I will travel to the United States and South Korea to meet with investors and international counterparts, including as part of G20, IMF and World Bank annual meetings and the Asia‑Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
In the face of growing global uncertainty and ongoing geopolitical tensions, this is a critical time to confer with counterparts.
In the past week alone, we’ve seen a welcome de‑escalation of conflict in the Middle East at the same time as we’ve seen a significant escalation in trade tensions.
Our engagements with international counterparts and investors are all about managing and making the most of the big shifts shaping the global economy.
In these meetings, my focus will be on showcasing Australia’s strengths as an investment destination and promoting resilience in global markets.
Whether it’s our resources or renewable energy, our skills or stability, Australia has exactly what the world needs, when the world needs it.
While overseas, I’ll take part in a range of in‑depth discussions on the global economy, financial sector resilience and the opportunities flowing from the transformation to cleaner and cheaper energy and the digital economy.
I’ll meet with international counterparts and colleagues from Europe, Asia and the United States.
This will include US Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, Indonesia’s Vice Minister of Finance Tommy Djiwandono and Republic of Korea Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun‑cheol.
In addition, I will meet with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, and Asian Development Bank President Masato Kanda.
I will also be travelling to New York City to meet with a number of global investors.
Of all G20 countries, last year Australia was the only one to record continuous quarterly growth at the same time as we ranked in the top 10 in the G20 on important measures like inflation, low unemployment, investment, low gross debt and budget balance.
But Australia is not immune from the volatility that is such a defining feature of the global economic outlook right now.
While we’ve made a lot of progress together on the economy, there’s still plenty of work to do to.
Collaborating with our counterparts on growth, resilience and sustainability will make our economies more prosperous and productive and make our people big beneficiaries of global churn and change.