G20 leaders to discuss global economy

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G20 leaders to discuss global economy

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Foreign ministers kick off informal G20 talks in Mexico.

20 February,2012 01:12 pm

Senior ministers from the worlds twenty most powerful economies gathered in Mexico for informal G20 talks on the troubled global economy.Organized by Mexican Foreign Minister, Patricia Espinosa, in the Mexican resort town of Los Cabos, the February meeting will be the first G20 where foreign ministers would discuss pressing issues including governance, trans-national crime, climate change, food, and security. The state of affairs detracts from the credibility of international institutions and led people across the world to lose faith in our capacity to respond to the needs of ordinary citizens, emphasized Espinosa in her opening remarks to the Group of 20.Countries including Brazil, China, France, Germany and India were represented at a lower level in Los Cabos summit.Mexico which currently chairs the G20 countries, hosted what has been considered an informal meeting. Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa ruled out any particular formal statements by its members on concrete critical issues, including unrest and plans for a referendum in Syria.Mexico has no preconceived notions and recipes to offer but we feel duty bound as chair of the Group of 20 to invite its members and other key actors to reflect on current global challenges that affect the international community as a whole, anticipated Espinosa to her counterparts.Australias Kevin Rudd, outside the main floor though expressed his concerns on the subject. On Syria there is great concern about the fact that the existing structures of the United Nations have not delivered an outcome mainly, that we have a Security Council resolution or be it a moderate and mild one which is still vetoed by two member states, two permanent member states of the Security Council, Rudd said.The foreign ministers from the Group of Twenty Nations meet again on Monday (February 20) where participants will include presentations by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton.Since its inception, the G20 group replaced the G8 as the main economic council of wealthy nations on September 25, 2009. G20 countries produce almost 90 per cent of the worlds GDP and are home to two-thirds of its population.