Secretary Rubio: Thank you all for being here. I want to welcome you all to Atlanta, Georgia, and I hope today’s meeting will be a productive one, this is a pivotal moment. I think this is a moment of choice, and I want to say that not only for my country, the United States of America, but frankly, for the world.
We are facing a series of interconnected economic and geopolitical crises, many of which pose serious threats—to important foundations of the global economic order. Global energy and food supplies, food markets, global supply chains, trade, and freedom of navigation itself are all subject to new disruptions and pressures. The G20 must work together to address these threats, strengthen the resilience of our economies, and protect our markets and the economies on which they depend.
The challenges we face—the challenges we address during President Trump’s presidency are multifaceted and interconnected, and the solutions must be, too. Here we can help lay the foundation for the expanded geopolitical stability and broader economic prosperity agenda our leaders will address. As diplomats and political leaders, we play a vital role. Our mission is to work with one another on behalf of the nations we serve, coordinate responses to emerging crises and protect our common interests. By translating our shared interests into practical cooperation and practical action, we can strengthen global stability—and more importantly, we can deliver meaningful results for our citizens.
We have a lot to cover over the next two days. In short, in terms of modalities, we will discuss two issues in this plenary meeting: freedom of navigation and food security. I will introduce this topic and move on to the next speaker. We’re going to go around the table; we’re going to go in alphabetical order. I wanted to ask you if we could — I know these are complex and delicate topics, but if we could limit each statement to about three minutes, because if we don’t, we’re going to be here for a long time. Then, I’ll summarize at the end of each topic as we move on to the next topic.