the G20 Summit
31 March 2009
Pretoria: President Kgalema Motlanthe will today, Tuesday, 31 March 2009,
depart for London to join world leaders at the G20 Summit scheduled for 2 April
2009, in London, United Kingdom.
At the Summit, President Kgalema Motlanthe will be supported by the Finance
Minister, Trevor Manuel, National Treasury Director-General, Lesetja Kganyago
and senior government officials.
South Africa's participation at the London G20 Summit takes place within the
context of its continued commitment to the reformation of the global financial
architecture.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma had previously indicated
that "As they look at packages to salvage their own economies, G20 countries
must be thinking about the economies of developing countries, particularly in
Africa."
As the only African country in the G20, South Africa has consistently
stressed that a global response is required to mitigate the impact of the
crisis and prevent its contagion to emerging markets and developing countries,
in particular Africa
The G20 Summit is held against the backdrop of the raging global financial
crisis and hopes to agree on a plan to restore global growth development based
on four pillars.
* Stabilise global finance, by unblocking credit and taking decisive,
co-ordinated and temporary national action to restore confidence in the
financial system.
* Counter the global recession by boosting domestic demand through coordinated
fiscal and monetary policy actions that take account of medium term
sustainability and ensuring that the global economy remains open for trade and
capital flows.
* Deploy resources to support demand and sustain investment in developing
countries, in order to prevent a further deepening of the global recession and
provide a more effective boost to counter-cyclical efforts on a global scale.
Resources must also be mobilised to respond to the incipient development
emergency including, the growing crisis of unemployment and poverty -
particularly in Africa.
* Lay the foundation for a sustainable recovery on the basis of a more balanced
and inclusive world economy premised on a stronger and more equitable system of
global economic multilateralism. This will require consideration of the social
and economic architecture of a sustainable recovery by rebalancing global
demand, strengthening social safety nets and protecting employment.
It is also expected that the Ethiopian Prime Minister and Chair of the New
Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), Meles Zenawi and the African
Union Commission Chairperson, Jean Ping will attend the Summit.
Background to the London G20 Summit
In November 2008 President Motlanthe attended the G20 Leaders Summit on
Financial Markets in Washington DC, following a meeting of the Finance
Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G20 in São Paulo, Brazil. That G20
Summit in particular, pledged to aggressively use fiscal measures to
reinvigorate their economies.
History of the G20
The Group of Twenty (G20) was established in 1999 as a response to the Asian
financial crisis of the late 1990s and in recognition that key emerging-market
countries had to be included in global economic discussions and
governance.
It enabled important industrialised and developing economies to discuss key
global economic issues and engage in dialogue on national policies,
international co-operation and international financial institutions.
President Motlanthe and his delegation return to South Africa on Thursday, 2
April 2009.
Enquiries:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: 082 990 4853
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
31 March 2009
