Summit 'best solution' to global crisis

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono greets audience members after giving a speech Tuesday at the London School of Economic and Political Science. The event was held as part of Yudhoyono’s agenda before taking part in the G20 Summit in the UK capital Thursday (Courtesy of Presidential Office/Abror Rizki)

A threatened walkout by French President Nicolas Sarkozy from Thursday’s G20 Summit has not dampened hopes of developing and developed nations alike striking a deal to jointly cushion the impacts of the global economic meltdown.

AP reported Wednesday that Sarkozy had threatened to walk out of the summit if it failed to reach concrete actions, saying that “the crisis is too serious for us to hold a summit for nothing”.

However, US President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown remained confident over a global deal to lift the world out of a massive recession — an optimism shared by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is also in London to take part in the summit.

Yudhoyono suggested that emerging countries, including Indonesia, put high hopes in the world leaders meeting coming up with a concrete solution, calling it “humankind’s best hope for the... beginning of a solution” to the current meltdown, warning that failure to achieve that would be costly.

“As a permanent member, I want coordinated global actions [resulting from the summit] to be effective and concrete and of benefit to us all,” Yudhoyono said Wednesday in London.

On Tuesday, hours after the Indonesian delegation arrived in London, Yudhoyono also told his audience at the London School of Economics and Political Science that only with global cooperation could the world survive the crisis.

“That is why Indonesia is deeply involved in the work of the G20, which is humankind’s best hope for the solution or the beginning of a solution to the crisis that has engulfed us all. Indonesia also wants to ensure that developing countries will not be left behind [in the process].

“I realize it is not enough to have a regional vision. We must also have a global vision, most especially at a time when the whole world, without exception, is reeling from the impact of the global economic and financial crisis,” Yudhoyono said.

Meanwhile, AP reported Obama as saying there was “enormous consensus” between the world's rich and emerging countries on plans to kick-start the global economic recovery, despite a warning from Sarkozy who said neither his country nor Germany would align with any “false compromises”, suggesting that a clear deal was not secure.

Brown, too, sought to play up consensus, foreshadowing agreement on issues including a possible US$100 billion boost for global trade, financial regulation and support for economic growth and job creation.

Washington has eased off on a push for other governments to pump more money into economic stimulus programs, after heavy opposition from Europe, but Germany and France are still unhappy that not enough is being done to tighten international regulation to rein in financial market excesses.

Earlier, Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said deputies of world leaders were getting back to square one in “the making of the draft of communiqué”, because of what many members described as early information leakage before it was officially agreed on when the summit ends Thursday evening.

“We don’t want our G20 communiqué to not be good enough, not be strong enough. Therefore, deliberations start from zero and there are dramatic changes made from Tuesday night until Wednesday morning.” However, she refused to disclose more details.

            The summit will be attended by leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US and the EU.