June 16, 2012 (TSR) – As leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) nations will gather in the Mexican city of Los Cabos next week for a summit, people worldwide have been anxiously expecting what they could prescribe for an ailing global economy.
HOST: ECONOMIC GROWTH TOPS EVERYTHING ELSE
Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa has said that the most important topic of the summit is how to promote economic recovery and growth.
According to the Mexican government, the G20 leaders would also focus on how to reinforce international financial institutions, encourage sustainable development, improve energy sufficiency, and expand input to cope with climate change.
CHINA: PROMOTE GROWTH AND STABILITY
Ever since the first G20 summit, China has been playing a positive and constructive role in working with other G20 members to counter the international financial crisis and strengthen global economic governance, said Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai.
China’s efforts to transform its development pattern, adjust economic structure, and maintain a steady and fast economic growth would be the nation’s major contributions to a dismal world economy, he said.
He also said China hopes the G20 leaders could come out of the summit with positive outcomes in terms of promoting growth and stability.
RUSSIA: REFORM GLOBAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the agreements reached at the G20 summit in the French city of Cannes last year should be fulfilled, which include the completion of International Monetary Fund reforms.
He also said Russia hopes Mexico, the host of the summit, could put forward proposals to reform the global financial and economic system, and to promote global economic stability and balanced growth.
According to Russia’s presidential press office, Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of the summit, the first since Putin’s return to the Kremlin last month. The two leaders will possibly sign a series of important documents.
U.S.: DEBT CRISIS IN EUROPE
The summit will cover “everything from continuing working on the framework for balanced, strong and sustainable growth to working on financial regulation,” Michael Froman, deputy national security advisor for international economic affairs, said at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He called the ongoing eurozone crisis the “biggest issue” in the global economy right now, and expected the G20 leaders to spend a “disproportionate” amount of their time to talk about the state of the global economy, “particularly what’s going on in the eurozone.”
EU: FOUR PRIORITIES
President of European Council Herman Van Rompuy and President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso said in a joint letter sent to the 27 EU members’ leaders recently that the EU should focus on promoting economic growth and employment, strengthening the international financial architecture, making substantial further progress on financial market reform, and tackling food security and promoting development.
EU leaders would also be appealing to other G20 countries to “fight protectionism and to further strengthen the multilateral trading system,” they said, adding that the recent surge in protectionism is a major concern and the G20 should strengthen the existing monitoring mechanism.
GERMANY: SUMMIT SHOULD GO BEYOND EUROZONE DEBT CRISIS
The German government believes that the summit should go beyond the debt crisis in the eurozone and look into problems concerning global economic recovery and growth, including improving the poor financial status of the United States.
It added that the summit should also discuss the economic structure reforms in the emerging markets, forestalling trade protectionism, and improving global macro-investment environment.
JAPAN: STRONG MESSAGE NEEDED
Noriyuki Shikata, Japanese government spokesman, said the eurozone debt crisis and the need to maintain global financial security shall be the key topics at the summit.
He also said the G20 leaders should send a “strong message” to stabilize market confidence.
Japan believes that EU’s financial sectors should play a major role in combating the financial crisis, said Shikata, adding that the summit is expected to play its part in fighting protectionism and promoting sustainable development.
BRAZIL: CONCERTED ACTION AMONG MAJOR ECONOMIES
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said Monday that her country would urge collaborative efforts by the developed and the emerging economies at the summit to promote economic growth and stability.
Rousseff added that the world could not expect the emerging economies alone to solve the problem.
