CANBERRA, June 7 (Xinhua) -- It is critical for Australia to strengthen bilateral partnerships amid rising economic headwinds, Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said.
Frydenberg made the remarks when speaking to News Corp Australia before attending the Group of 20 (G20) finance leaders meeting in Osaka, Japan.
"This meeting is coming at a time which is seeing perhaps the most significant shift in the global environment since the Cold War, with an increase in strategic rivalries," Frydenberg said.
"Multinational institutions are being challenged, volatility has increased for example with Brexit, (and) there has been a shift in power rivalries with the center of economic gravity moving to Asia," he said.
At the same time, the global economic outlook has weakened, Frydenberg added, noting that the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have downgraded their economic forecasts and said the economic risks are tilted to the downside,
"So at this time it is more important than ever that Australia strengthens its bilateral relationships," he said.
Frydenberg is set to meet with counterparts from the United States, Britain, Indonesia, Canada, Japan and Saudi Arabia at the meeting.
He said that the fundamentals of Australia's economy were "sound" but could be undermined by trade tensions between China and the United States, discussions of which he predicted would dominate the G20 meeting.
"We would like to see the trade dispute between China and the U.S. amicably resolved," Frydenberg said.
