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Yeah, let me first also say together with President Costa that the European Union is very pleased to be here in Johannesburg.

The G20 summit is the first on African soil.

It is the first since the African Union joined as a permanent member.

And this is highlighting Africa's central and vital role on the global stage and the leadership of President Ramaphosa and South Africa.

The G20 is a premier global forum to find common solution for common challenges such as to how to maintain reliable rules-based trade in a volatile global economy.

Or how to ensure climate change, fight food and energy resilience.

And how to meet the opportunities and risks posed by rapid technological change.

These are the topics of the 3 round tables that will form the core of our discussions in the next 2 days,

and allow me to go into further detail on each of those 3. The first is on trade.

Europe is doubling down on our core belief. That rules-based trade delivers.

We will continue to champion partnership, openness and fair competition.

And that is the message we'll bring to the G20 and to the EU African Union summit which follows these G20.

Our network of free trade agreements is already the biggest in the world. 44 agreements with 76 partners. We have more on the way.

The agreements we have reached with Mercosur, Mexico and Indonesia further strengthen our network,

and we're working nonstop to finalise an agreement with India,

but also with Australia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.

And just yesterday, we, the European Union and South Africa, concluded ale Trade and Investment partnership.

We are a partner that plays by the rules, that's important for us.

We listen to our partners and, above all,

we deliver mutual gains in trade and investment, which in return delivers good jobs.

We believe in the mutual gain in trade and investment.

We will continue advocating for a strong, reformed and relevant World Trade organisation, including here at the G20.

The 2nd roundtable there, the motto is a resilient world.

Here the focus is on fighting climate change and the clean energy transition.

As the European Union, we want to bring a message of hope and of opportunity to this G20 summit.

It is a message about clean energy technologies and clean energy transitions, because not only do they meet our urgent need to tackle climate change,

but they do much, much more, and the business case by now is doing much better. Clean energy transitions are cost competitive. They create jobs, good jobs, homegrown.

They open new ways to bring modern energy to the many millions that remain without access to energy,

and they are a natural fit, of course, for many developing economies.

As it is about the resources that these developing economies have in abundance.

So we're speaking about not only solar, but also wind, geothermal, hydropower, and the new low emission fuels.

But for the clean transitions to really succeed.

It must happen everywhere, that's important,

and this is where reliable cooperation between trusted partners is yet again the best way forward.

I welcome South Africa's making this a focal point of the G20 presidency. Just think about two figures.

Last year, the investment in clean energy was globally 2 trillion.

But only 2% of this investment went to Africa,

but Africa is the continent with 60% of the world's best solar potential.

This cannot be We must change this imbalance,

and that is at the core of the European Union's Global Gateway Initiative.

Of the whole €300 billion 25% go into energy investment and this to the global south.

The European Union wants to be Africa's partner of choice, that is for us important,

and the opportunities now, and therefore I welcome that there is a side event here at the G20.

This afternoon, together with President Ramaphosa,

we will host the final pledging event of our campaign called Scaling Up Renewables for Africa.

It will be a key moment because we will convene governments and investors and philanthropists to come together.

And to power Africa's future, I hope to see you there too.

My last point is on the 3rd roundtable, a fair and just future.

Here we will discuss the new issues like digital governance and how to enter the global economic mainstream with digitalization,

and that is why I am looking forward to our discussions on artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence, we all know, is a revolution, but we must make it a revolution with citizens at its core.

For Europe, innovation and accountability do not pull in opposite directions. On the contrary, they push together.

We are already working hand in hand with G20 partners who share the same vision of AI.

It must be a game changer for good.

This potential is strong on the African continent,

from optimising the renewable energy grids to predicting natural disasters, you need AI in these topics.

There, the European Union is working with our partners to lay the groundwork here in Africa for artificial intelligence factories.

In other words, this is bringing computational power to the many,

many startups that are here on the continent so that they can train their models, develop their models and improve their models.

So to conclude, I'm looking forward to the next two days. Thank you.