Seoul G-20 Summit

Significant achievements evaded in Seoul G-20 Summit

The fifth annual G20 Summit, a meeting of the G20 heads of government to discuss the world economy, was held in Seoul, Korea on November 11-12, 2010. The political leaders came here with the desire to make advances from the last summit in Toronto, where they set out a long-term goal of sustaining the global economic recovery. Significant achievements evaded them on the two most contentious issues on their agenda in Seoul such as exchange rates and trade imbalances. But they failed to reach an accord on settling their disagreement over these two issues. Prime Minister Stephen Harper acknowledged at the end of the meetings on November 12 that he and his fellow leader had fallen short. The major industrialized and developing nations have recognized that these are tough issues that cannot be ignored.
The world’s largest rich and emerging economies including China vowed in the summit to ‘spare no effort ‘at upcoming climate talks in Mexico, a year after Beijing stymied a deal in Copenhagen. ‘We will spare effort to reach a balanced and successful outcome in Cancun.” The vow came less than three weeks before 194 countries meet in the Mexican resort city of Cancun for a second go at hammering out an agreement to curb greenhouse gases after 2012 when the current agreement expires. The climate gathering will take place in the lingering shadow of last December’s Copenhagen Summit which ended in near fiasco due to Chinese reluctance to agree to binding commitments. Addressing the threat of global climate change is an urgent priority for all nations. Despite the promise, China has led in curbing greenhouse gases. Developed countries have their historic responsibility over climate change but the question is how much they are shouldering their responsibilities. China and US clashed at a UN Climate gathering last month in the Chinese city of Tianjin, accusing each other of blocking progress ahead of the Cancun Summit. The US wants China the world’s largest source of the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change, to commit to curbing carbon emissions and developing countries to agree to more scrutiny of their climate claims. China has rejected pressure for outside verification. She says it was US attempt to divert attention for the fact the US has so far failed to get emissions cut legislation through congress.
G-20 leaders vowed to avoid tit-for tat currency devaluation but China’s strong objections to any brakes on its export machine undermined a US push to redress skewed global trade and emerging economies agreed to pursue ‘ Indicative guidelines to reorient trade between surplus and deficit nations. Chinese president Hu-Jintao had presented his own counter-proposals in Seoul, calling on the United States to adopt ‘responsible policies’ and maintain a stable dollar.Hu, who presides over the world’s second largest economy and its largest exporter, demanded global resistance to trade barriers as he painted a bleak picture of the economic outlook. International financial markets are volatile, the fluctuations in the major currencies are large, prices of commodities are high and there is a clear rise in protectionism.
Obama having suffered an economy lined drubbing in US midterm elections said there should be no controversy about fixing imbalances ‘ that helped to contribute to the crisis that we just went through .’ But controversy was rife in the G-20 after the Federal Reserve instituted a 600-billion dollar attempt to relate the US economy radical monetary step . Chinese officials sought to throw the onus back on the US by arguing that Beijing has an ‘unwiring commitment to reform it’s much criticized currency regime but needs stability in the world economy. “ The US plan to curtail trade imbalance was a back-door way of forcing China to realign its currency which criticizes it’s deliberately cheap Chinese exporters.
The world’s biggest rich and emerging powers actually ‘escalated a war of words over trade and currencies on November 11. Leaders opened a G-20 summit struggling to iron out distortions that threaten global growth. The US striving recover from it worse economic crisis in decades locked horns anew with exporting giant China and Germany over a plan to rebalance skewed commerce between deficit and surplus countries Obama grafting to salvage a deal at the G20 after suffering an economy lined drubbing in US Elections last week .Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the risk was of ‘competitive devaluation’ of currencies reminiscent of the Great Depression. Brazilian president Luiz Inancio Lula de Silva said the world economy was shadowed for ‘bankruptcy’ unless rich nations raise consumer demand rather than reclining and exports to power their recoveries. These predictions call for due attention not only for the interest of industrialized but also developing nations.

Md. Masum Billah
Program Manager: BRAC Education Program
Cell: 01714-091431
Email: mmbillah2000@yahoo.com