G-20 Summit Should Promise Benefits for All

G-20 Summit Should Promise Benefits for All

London is going to hold G-20 summit on 2nd April. It is going to take place against the backdrops of exceptionally challenging economic circumstances of the globe. G-20 leaders seem to hold very high opinion of the summit. Prime Minster Gordon Brown declared that world can work together to achieve agreements at the London summit on April 2 on the policies needed to build economic recovery and reshape the global financial and trading system. He visits Europe, USA and Latin America for key meetings with world leaders this week. More than 2500 police officers will be on duty to counter the threat in an operation costing more than ten million.” These are innovative people and we must be innovative as well. I have encouraged officers to try and think about what these people might try and do and hopefully we will have something to mitigate that “ the police officer in charge of maintaining discipline of the summit commented. “ The voices of poor countries and especially African nations will be heard at the London Summit” Doughlas Alexander, the UK’s International Development Secretary said .leaders of the 27 member states of the European Union met in Brussels on 19 and 20 March for what will be the last major politicians’ meeting ahead of the London Summit on April

Some G-20 nations hope the weekend summit on financial reform will be a modern Bretton Woods.Prime Minster Gordon Brown said, it is a “New Bretoon Woods” as important as 1944 convention that established the modern financial world order.Bretton Woods created the International Monetary Fund which endures as the one international body powerful enough to prop up government and economies than run into trouble. It also created a system of fixed exchange rates that failed to endure into the seventies. Today, despite a financial crisis that is agreed to be worst since the Great Depression, little yet under academic discussion rises to the level of ambition on display in the New Hampshire Mountains in 1944.


G-20 originates back to June 2003 when foreign ministers from Brazil, India and South Africa signed a declaration known as the ‘Brasilia Declaration’ in which they stated that ‘major trading partners are still moved by protectionist concerns in the countries less competitive sectors and emphasized how important it is that the results of the current round of trade negotiations provide especially for the reversal of protectionist policies and trade distorting practices. Furthermore, Brazil, India and South Africa decided to articulate their initiatives of trade liberalization. Nonetheless the official appearance of the G-20 occurred as a response to a text released on 13 August 2003 by the European Communities and the United States with a common proposal on agriculture for the Cancun Ministerial. This document marked the establishment of the document went through many changes being known as such different names as the g-21 or g-22. The title was finally chosen in honor of the date of the group’s establishment. Since its creation the group has had a fluctuating membership. Previous members have included Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, EL Salvador, Peru and Turkey. As of October 2008, the group had 23 members. The core leadership of the g-20 known as the G-4 bloc consists of Brazil, China, India and South Africa.


The global economic crisis is deepening because banks are uncertain about the scale of their bad debts and therefore unwilling to lend money to businesses and households. To restore lending, the G-20 finance ministers and central banks set out a set of principles for governments to use in helping banks deal with their impaired assets without distorting international financial markets. Finance ministers from the G-20 group of rich and emerging nations have pledged to make a sustained effort to pull the world economy out of recession. “We are committed to deliver the scale of sustained effort necessary to restore growth”, they said in a joint statement. Speaking after the gathering of finance ministers in Horshan, West Sussex, Mr. Darling said the G-20 recognized the ‘sense of emergency surrounding the world economy. We have taken decisive and comprehensive action to boost demand and jobs” he said. We are prepared to take whatever action is necessary.”


Mr. Darling added there had been a significant amount of progress, a great deal of consensus. Mr. Geithner added that ‘we have a very broad consensus globally on the need to act aggressively to restore growth to the global economy. “Public debt is a heavy burden for our children and grandchildren and there will be an exit strategy.

Since its birth, the G-20 has contributed to strengthen the international financial architecture and to foster sustainable economic growth and development. The G-20 now has a crucial role in driving forward between advanced and emerging economies to tackle the international financial and economic crisis, restore worldwide financial stability, lead the international economic recovery and secure a sustainable future for all countries. The financial markets and the world economy continue to face serious global challenges and the severity of the crisis and ongoing uncertainties demonstrate the need for urgent action. During the United Kingdom Chair, the immediate priority will be to gain further agreements for a concerted, coordinated international response.


Steps to improve the regulation of the global financial system, a key objective of the London Summit, have been agreed by G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank governors and recommended to the leaders. They represent significant progress in tacking the problems that led to global financial crisis and restoring trust and confidence in the financial services sector. Agreement has now been reached on many of the steps that can help restore global economic growth through enhanced international coordination and on further measures to be recommended to the leaders at the London Summit on 2nd April.
Confidence in the international banking system has fallen. Major institutions have failed countries around the world have entered recession with falling trade and rising unemployment.
At the summit countries need to come together to enhance global coordination in order to help restore global economic growth. World leaders must make the following three commitments.

(i) Taking whatever action is necessary to stabilize financial markets and enable families and business to get through the recession.
(ii) Reforming and strengthening the global financial and economic system to restore confidence and trust.
(iii) Putting the global economy on track for sustainable growth.


The world’s leading economies can come together and lay the foundations not just for a sustainable economic recovery but also for a genuinely new era of international economic partnership—a global deal in which all countries have a part to play and all will see the benefits.







Md. Masum Billah
Programme Manager: BRAC Education Programme, PACE
Phone: 9355253 (res), 01714-091431 (cell)
Email: mmbillah2000@yahoo.com