Gordon Brown has stressed the importance of April’s G20 summit in London in the bid to strike a “global deal” that will “speed up the recovery of the world economy”.
Speaking at a press conference with Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi in Rome today, Mr Brown said that countries throughout the world had been “brought low” by the economic crisis. All nations needed to inject resources into their own economies and also agree on ways to reform international institutions, he said.
The PM said:
“We are trying to build for that summit a global deal, a global bargain if you like, where each continent will make its contribution to the recovery of the world economy. And I believe that if each continent can work together to restore the financial system, to inject resources into their economies and to agree that the international institutions have got to take even greater responsibilities for action, then we will see a global bargain at the April G20 meeting that will speed up the recovery of the world economy.”
The PM added that he and Mr Berlusconi were united in opposing moves towards protectionist trade policies.
In a joint article in “Il Sole 24 Ore” today, Mr Brown and Mr Berlusconi stressed the importance of carrying forward the work started in Washington in November through the London Summit and on to this year’s G8. Italy will host the annual meeting of the G8 industrial nations in La Maddelena in July.
Earlier today the PM was received at the Vatican by Pope Benedict XVI for discussions on the need to help poor countries during the global economic crisis.
