On a tour of Latin America, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Brazil, Peru and Colombia. On the final leg of her journey, she stopped in Mexico to meet with President Felipe Calderon.

The main purpose of the meeting was to prepare for the upcoming G8 summit, to be held in Japan, when Germany and Mexico intend to jointly present a plan to stabilize the global food crisis. According to the Mexican-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Germany has invested in more than 1,000 companies currently operating in Mexico, with a yearly trade volume of almost $14 billion (€8.9 billion).

At a press conference between the two countries, President Calderon said that food production around the world had to dramatically increase to supply additional demand from emerging economies such as China and India. He stated that the considerable amount of corn the United States uses to produce ethanol is core to the global food crisis.

Rising prices of corn, the staple food of many countries, have recently resulted in riots in countries neighboring Mexico.

Chancellor Merkel said that the first step in addressing the food crisis is to analyze the effect of rising living standards upon the world’s emerging countries. In doing this, her nation could build long-term partnerships, which would eventually secure many jobs in Germany, where unemployment is on the rise.