Today I will be travelling to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to attend the third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting under Argentina's 2018 G20 Presidency.
While global economic growth remains robust, the risks to the outlook are increasing. The meeting will take place against the backdrop of ongoing financial vulnerabilities in emerging market economies and global trade tensions.
Economic integration from open trade and investment has benefited Australia greatly. I will use the meeting to stress to my colleagues the importance of keeping markets open. History is clear: when trade barriers go up, growth and jobs go down.
Harnessing the benefits of technology, while dealing with the challenges it brings, is a key focus for Argentina's Presidency this year. Discussions will cover the future of work in the face of technological change, crypto-assets and technological innovation in the financial sector, and how we can ensure a fair and modern international tax system.
FinTech is prominent in the Government's plans to boost jobs and growth. During discussions on technology in the financial sector, I will emphasise the potential benefits that distributed ledger technology can deliver. While there are risks around the use of crypto-assets, we need to ensure that global regulatory settings do not stifle the underlying technology from being used to develop innovative new products and services. I look forward to sharing with the G20 what Australian businesses are doing in this space.
I will also use the tax session to call for continued discussions on a multilateral solution to the tax challenges of the digital economy. The G20 needs to work together to ensure that large digital multinationals pay their fair share of tax.
In addition to the G20 meeting, I will hold a number of discussions to strengthen Australia's relationship with key bilateral partners. I will be meeting with United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, United Kingdom Chancellor Philip Hammond, Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau, Netherlands Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra, as well as the President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde.
I look forward to representing Australia's interests during these important international discussions.