Germany wants to strengthen economic ties with Latin America, but protecting the environment, said on Friday the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, who closed a tour in the region with a visit to the Panama Canal.

“And my visit is also to emphasize that we want to cooperate precisely on these issues of climate protection and world trade. But our countries can also cooperate even more on research and technology issues,” he added.

Baerbock held a meeting this Friday with his Panamanian match, Janaina Tewaney, and then visited the famous Miraflores Lock of the Panama Canal, on the last stop of a tour that also took her to Brazil and Colombia.

“My country, as one of the largest industrialized countries, which in the past built its prosperity on the combustion of fossil fuels, depends on this green hydrogen for the future of our industrial base,” he added.

Argentina, Chile and Uruguay are betting on the production of green hydrogen, an alternative to fossil fuels because its combustion does not emit polluting gases.

“The boost of the hydrogen economy occupies a prominent place on our agenda,” highlighted the environmental activist and head of German diplomacy.

Baerbock highlighted the geographical location of Panama – and its Canal – to facilitate world trade, since North and South America, and the two largest oceans on the planet converge.

“The land masses of North and South America converge here, but the Atlantic and Pacific regions connected by the Panama Canal, one of the vital lines of world trade, are also here,” he added.