Yesterday afternoon, Foreign Minister Diana Mondino participated in the first G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting taking place in Rio de Janeiro between today and tomorrow, and held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from Indonesia, Canada and Uruguay.
In the first plenary session on “The role of the G20 in dealing with current international tensions,” the Foreign Ministers addressed global geopolitical issues such as the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East, which have hampered the normal functioning of the global forum’s Working Groups and the achievement of Ministerial Declarations by consensus.
During her speech, Mondino ratified Argentina’s commitment to the G20 and to “active and constructive participation to build consensus on the significant challenges we must face.”
The Argentine Foreign Minister said that Argentina “is implementing a stabilization program, building fiscal solvency and a strong currency,” and assured that “in order to achieve sustainable development and fight poverty, principles that provide predictability are fundamental. These include respect for property rights and freedoms of work and initiative, the rule of law, the supremacy of law, macroeconomic stability, and a peaceful coexistence.”
“But we also need a global order that allows efficient production for the benefit of all peoples, that allows free trade, without arbitrary obstacles and tariff barriers of any kind, with trade and investment based on rules that all must comply with,” Mondino added.
After her speech at the plenary session, Mondino met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Retno Marsudi, to whom she expressed Argentina's interest in deepening bilateral ties at all levels. Marsudi expressed her country's interest in reactivating technical cooperation in the field of energy and food security, which opens doors to Argentine trade opportunities.
Later, Mondino held a working meeting with her counterpart from Uruguay, Omar Paganini, following their previous meeting in Paraguay during the Mercosur Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. They agreed on the importance of boosting the economic and trade relations for the benefit of both countries’ economies and by virtue of the frank and open dialogue between the governments.
They also reaffirmed their willingness to advance in the modernization of MERCOSUR, with the objective of consolidating regional integration as a tool to achieve higher levels of development, especially when it serves as a platform to improve the competitiveness and international integration of their countries.
The Foreign Minister then met with Mélanie Joly, the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the meeting, the Argentine Foreign Minister expressed Argentina’s commitment to advance an agenda for the promotion of economic development, trade and investments, especially in the mining and energy sectors.
Mondino explained to Joly the state reform programme led by President Milei’s administration, which will contribute to achieving a balanced budget, transparency, predictability, macroeconomic stability, growth and a clearer definition of Argentina’s international financial situation.
Today, on her last day in Rio de Janeiro, Mondino will participate in Session II, at which the Foreign Ministers will address the reform of global governance, with emphasis on the WTO, the UN, the multilateral development banks and other bodies within the international financial architecture.
- G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
Under the Brazilian presidency, the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is also attended by guest countries—Spain, Angola, Egypt, Nigeria, Singapore, Norway, Portugal and the United Arab Emirates—and by regional organizations—the Inter-American Development Bank and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean. Brazil invited the New Development Bank (NDB) as well.
The motto of the Brazilian presidency is “Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet” and it focuses on three priorities:
- the fight against hunger, poverty, and inequality;
- energy transitions and the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental); and
- the reform of global governance.
The Foreign Ministers’ Meetings have been part of the formal G20 agenda uninterruptedly since the German presidency in 2017 (the countries that held the presidency afterwards, namely Argentina, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Indonesia and India, also organized these meetings). In addition to the guest countries invited by the Brazilian presidency, the Foreign Ministers of Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay also participated in the Foreign Ministers’ meeting hosted by Brazil.
