About the G-20
The Group of Twenty (G-20) was formally established in 1999 to bring together major industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy.
The members of the G-20 are the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the U.K. and the U.S., as well as the European Union, represented by the rotating council presidency and the European Central Bank.
In November 2008, as a response to the global economic crisis, the G-20 held its first Leaders meeting, the Washington Summit on Financial Markets and the Global Economy. The heads of state and government were joined by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of the World Bank, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and the Chairperson of the Financial Stability Forum (reconstituted at the London Summit as the Financial Stability Board).
At the Washington Summit, the Leaders committed to an Action Plan which was reviewed and renewed at the London Summit held in April 2009. The G-20 Finance Ministers were tasked from the Washington summit to take forward work in the following five areas: strengthening transparency and accountability; enhancing sound regulation; promoting integrity in financial markets; reinforcing international cooperation; and reforming the international financial institutions.
The London Summit built on the work in those areas, as Leaders reached agreement on six pledges: to restore confidence, growth, and jobs; to repair the financial system to restore lending; to strengthen financial regulation to rebuild trust; to fund and reform our international financial institutions to overcome this crisis and prevent future ones; to promote global trade and investment and reject protectionism; and to build an inclusive, green, and sustainable recovery.
In London, the Leaders also called for another meeting to be held before the end of 2009. After consultation with his G-20 counterparts, President Obama agreed to host the next meeting in September and chose Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the site. With governments and international organizations now hard at work to reach the objectives set out at the Washington and London Summits, the meeting in Pittsburgh will give Leaders the opportunity to take stock of the progress made and discuss further actions to assure a sound recovery from the global economic and financial crisis.
