Ambassador Richard Grenell and Premier Armin Laschet – Picture by Land NRW, Mark Hermenau.
Thursday, 12 December 2019, Düsseldorf, NRW, Germany: NRW Premier Armin Laschet received the Ambassador of the United States of America to Germany, Richard A. Grenell, for a bilateral meeting at the State Chancellery. This is the Ambassador’s second visit to the State Chancellery after his inaugural visit in May 2018.
Premier Armin Laschet hailed the visit following the statement below: “Ambassador Richard Grenell’s visit shows how close transatlantic relations between North Rhine-Westphalia and the USA are. We attach great importance to a continuous exchange and deepening of close friendship with the United States.”
The Premier continued: “The USA is the most important partner outside the European Union, it is the world’s leading technology nation and of crucial importance for security in Europe. All the more reason for me to be committed to a personal exchange with Ambassador Grenell in order to jointly advance the transatlantic dialogue. Especially today, multilateral solutions and free trade without protectionism are important, also for jobs in North Rhine-Westphalia”.
US-NRW ties
Ambassador Grenell was accompanied during his visit to the State Chancellery by the US Consul General in Düsseldorf, Fiona Evans.
The USA is one of North Rhine-Westphalia’s most important foreign trade partners. At the same time, US companies are among the largest investors and foreign employers in North Rhine-Westphalia. North Rhine-Westphalia is home to more than 1,600 US companies. In 2017, they invested a total of around 13 billion euros. German cities and municipalities are partnered with a total of 32 US cities and municipalities.
The number of school and university cooperations between North Rhine-Westphalia and the USA has increased since 2016. In total, there are 122 school partnerships (2016: 99) and 288 cooperations between universities and colleges (2016: 220).
For further information
Government of NRW: https://www.land.nrw/de/pressemitteilung/ministerpraesident-armin-laschet-empfaengt-us-botschafter-richard-grenell-0
Ambassador Grenell’s maiden visit to NRW: https://diplomatmagazine.eu/2018/06/04/us-ambassador-grenell-in-nrw/
