Sakong Il, chairman of the
Presidential Panel for the G20 summit |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Sakong Il, chairman of the Presidential Committee for the G-20 summit, proposed Monday the reform of international financial institutions as one of the agenda items that needs to be fully discussed at next year's event in Seoul.
In a keynote speech during a G-20 Ambassadors' Roundtable at the National Assembly, he urged the need for reform, saying it would reduce small open economies' incentives to generate surpluses as a means of self-insurance.
Senior lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties and ambassadors of the G-20 countries to Seoul exchanged frank views during the luncheon meeting.
The National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee chaired by Rep. Park Jin of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) arranged the first roundtable meeting to discuss the issues to be included in the agenda of next year's summit, which will be chaired by Korea.
The government chose Seoul as the venue for the global forum in Korea last week. The G-20 accounts for more than 85 percent of the world's GDP.
"Reform of the international financial architecture needs to be integrated into the discussion of rebalancing to provide financial safety nets, particularly for small open economies," Sakong said.
Proposing several agendas, the chairman called on leaders to focus primarily on major policy issues for global economic management toward a strong, sustainable and balanced growth.
"In addition, leaders cannot do away with the recommitment to early completion of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and continued resistance to protectionism," Sakong said.
Chairing the roundtable meeting, Rep. Park said his committee arranged the meeting "to conduct free, in-depth discussion on setting the agenda and for the successful outcome of the summit."
Participating ambassadors said that South Korea, the first emerging economy to chair the G-20 Summit, could serve as a connection between developed and emerging economies.
Italian Ambassador to Korea Massimo Andrea Leggeri expressed hope and optimism about the role of the G-20 in reaching consensus on policy coordination and responses to the global recession.
"There are different ways to work together in a positive way (to cope with the financial crisis). The unpredictable face of the crisis will be managed very well between developed and emerging economies," he said.
British Ambassador to Korea Martin Uden pointed out the uncertainty and unpredictability of the global economic situation.
"We had no idea that we were going to face this (global financial) crisis," he said.
"Honestly, next year is going to be unpredictable too. We don't really know what the world will look like next year."
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens said it would be very interesting to explore Korea's role as a bridge between the two different types of economies next year.
"When we look back over the past year or so, it's been a transformational year for the G-20. The world's major economies were able to coordinate effective responses to the worst financial crisis since the 1930s," Stephens said.
hkang@koreatimes.co.kr
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