Minister Bettel Stresses Importance of EU, US Cooperation at Milken Institute Global Conference

Luxembourg’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Cooperation and Foreign Trade has announced that Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Xavier Bettel, participated in the annual conference of the Milken Institute in Los Angeles from Sunday 5 to Tuesday 7 May 2024.

Placed under the theme “Shaping a Shared Future”, the 27th edition of the “Milken Institute Global Conference” brought together hundreds of political leaders, representatives of international organisations and actors from the private sector to discuss the major contemporary challenges, particularly concerning the impact of geopolitical tensions, climate change, new technologies and artificial intelligence on our interconnected societies and economies.

Minister Bettel was invited to speak in several discussion panels; he participated in a session entitled “Leaders in Tech” on the subject of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and the need to revise political priorities as well as coordination between the public and private sectors in order to guarantee the balance of “technological trilemma” between innovation, competition and security.

The head of Luxembourg diplomacy was also able to participate in a panel entitled “The State of the World”, alongside the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, the former President of Colombia, Iván Duque, and James Stavridis, an admiral in the United States Navy. The panel, moderated by New York Times journalist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof, discussed, among other things, geopolitical tensions and the role of the European Union in current conflicts, as well as issues related to the ecological transition, international migration, peace and security.

Throughout his various exchanges and interventions, Minister Bettel stressed the importance of regular dialogue and close cooperation between, on the one hand, the European Union and the United States, and on the other hand, the public sector and the private sector, to collectively address the many challenges facing the globalised world.

Finally, the high-level conference allowed Minister Bettel to informally meet several actors from the economic and political worlds, including HM Queen Rania Al Abdallah and former Colombian President, Iván Duque.