|
Editor's Note:
SUSRIS will provide special reports from the Pittsburgh Summit through email, updates to a SUSRIS.org special section and through the SUSRIS blog. Check the SUSRIS.org homepage for all the Summit update links.
Global Economic Leaders Gather in Pittsburgh to Assess, Reform
by Patrick W. Ryan
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sept 24 – Delegations from the key industrialized and developing nations landed here throughout the day as the Summit of the Group of Twenty prepared to tackle a host of pressing global economic issues. Saudi Arabia’s delegation arrived Wednesday evening. The G-20 host, American President Barack Obama with his wife Michelle, arrived mid-afternoon today following the historic first of presiding over a session of the United Nations Security Council in New York. Many of the leaders at the two-day G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh participated in this week’s opening ceremonies of the United Nations General Assembly.
Saudi Arabia’s G-20 delegation is led by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal, accompanied by Minister of Finance, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf and the Governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), Dr. Muhammad Al-Jasser. Prince Saud, who has served as Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia since 1975, underwent surgery on a vertebrae in his neck according to an official announcement this month.
The Group of Twenty Summit is the third meeting in ten months of the leaders whose nations control about 85 percent of the world’s economic power. The Pittsburgh meeting will focus on recovery from the near catastrophic troubles that hit global economies late last year – to assess
economic progress, decide what needs to be done to further the recovery and to plan for sustained growth.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner speaking at a Summit press conference outlined a framework for reform that will be basis for U.S. discussions during the Summit. Geithner said, “There is substantial commitment to put reforms in place,” adding, “We will be able to achieve more if we move early.”
In April Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency Governor Muhammad Al-Jasser sounded a similar note at Washington conference when he said, “A strong economy requires a sound financial system, which depends not only on market, but also on prudent though not intrusive public intervention.” He noted, “We must learn the right lessons from this crisis and resist the temptation to go back to business as usual in the financial markets.”
SUSRIS will provide special reports from the Pittsburgh Summit through email, updates to a SUSRIS.org special section and through the SUSRIS blog. Check the www.SUSRIS.org homepage for all the Summit update links.
Related Material:
|
SPECIAL
REPORT