Germany - US Ties
December 22, 2006
Merkel hopes her US visit can take place as early as January, Thomas Steg, German government spokesperson, said from Berlin on Friday.
On Jan. 1, Germany takes over both the six-month rotating EU presidency and the one-year rotating presidency of the G8 group of most-industrialized nations. The G8's other members are the US, France, Italy, the UK, Russia, Canada and Japan.
Merkel, who met with US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in Berlin on Thursday, has called for stronger economic and trade cooperation between the EU and the United States.
Merkel has visited the United States twice since replacing Gerhard Schröder as chancellor in November 2005.
Merkel has sought to improve trans-Atlantic ties which were badly strained by Schröder's vocal opposition to the war in Iraq.
Hedge funds a G8 issue
Germany has already said it wanted to increase the transparency of hedge-fund operations during its G8 presidency.
While Germany does not have a big hedge-fund sector, the government has long argued for greater control in view of concerns about the risks posed to the global financial system by the loosely regulated hedge-fund industry, which is estimated to manage assets of some one trillion euros ($1.3 trillion) worldwide.