President Kgalema Motlanthe to lead South African Delegation to the G20 Summit

Pretoria: President Kgalema Motlanthe will today, Tuesday, 31 March 2009 depart for London to join world leaders at the G20 Summit scheduled for 02 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, coordinated 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 Motlantle attended the G-20 Leaders Summit on Financial Markets in Washington DC, following a meeting of the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G-20 in São Paulo, Brazil. That G20 Summit in particular, pledged to aggressively use fiscal measures to reinvigorate their economies.

HISTORY OF THE G-20

The Group of Twenty (G-20) 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 industrialized 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, 02 April 2009.

Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 9904853

Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria, 0001

 31 March 2009