President Obama might be on vacation in Hawaii, but he’s still been making plans for two major economic and trade events.
On Wednesday, the White House said Obama will travel to Germany in April to participate in Hannover Messe — the world’s largest trade show for industrial technology — and to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Founded in 1947, Hannover Messe attracts about 6,500 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors from across the globe each year. The White House said Obama’s participation — a first for a sitting U.S. President — “presents a unique opportunity to showcase American innovation and ingenuity and to highlight the United States as a prime investment destination.”
While in Germany, the President will address efforts to advance negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. This visit, Obama’s fifth to Germany, underscores the political and economic ties between Americans and Germans and highlights the U.S. commitment to trade and investment as drivers of job creation and economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic, the White House said.
Before that, Obama will host leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in a summit the White House said is now set for Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Feb. 15 and 16. The gathering — the first hosted by the U.S. with the ASEAN leaders — builds on the deeper partnership the U.S. has forged with ASEAN since 2009 and will further advance the administration’s rebalance to Asia and the Pacific.
“For nearly 40 years, the U.S. and ASEAN have worked toward stability, prosperity and peace in Southeast Asia,” the White House said. “This summit will provide leaders a forum to strengthen cooperation under the new U.S.-ASEAN strategic partnership, launched in November 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, on political, security and economic issues.”