Bush looks forward to hosting international financial summit soon

www.chinaview.cn 2008-10-19 06:00:56

·"I look forward to hosting this meeting in the near future," Bush said in Camp David. ·Sarkozy has called for such a meeting to discuss the global financial crisis. ·UN Ban said he supports the idea to host a global meeting on the financial crisis.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) --

U.S. President George W. Bush said Saturday that he looks forward to hosting an international financial summit "in the near future."

"I look forward to hosting this meeting in the near future," Bush said in the presidential retreat Camp David with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Union President Jose Manuel Barroso.

"It is essential that we work together because we are in this crisis together," Bush said.

Sarkozy has called for such a meeting to discuss the global financial crisis that has plagued the United States and other developed countries.

Earlier Saturday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he supports the idea to host a global meeting on the financial crisis in New York.

World finance summit set for November

Russia Today, October 19, 2008, 6:15

The presidents of the United States and France, as well as the head of the European Commission, have agreed to start consultations with world leaders on holding a series of summits devoted to fighting the global financial crisis - starting next week.

George W Bush, Nicolas Sarkozy and Jose Manuel Barroso made the announcement after a meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Saturday.

A joint statement said “consultations with world leaders will be held concerning the first summit with the heads of governments participating, to take place in the U.S. after the presidential election.”

The aims of the forum will be to agree the “principles of the reforms” needed to prevent a “repetition of the crisis and secure global prosperity in the future,” the statement said.

The following summits will focus on concrete steps to realise those principles.

During the meeting Nicolas Sarkozy said it was “no longer acceptable to abide 20th century rules.”

”Together we must be able to say to the world that we are determined to find a solution,” he said.

Barroso added that “co-ordination and consistency of countries’ decisions is the way to secure an efficient response to these unprecedented challenges.”

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon supports the plan for a summit and has offered to host it at the UN headquarters in New York.

"We both agree that there is no time to lose and, therefore, I fully subscribe to your idea of convening such a forum in early December at the latest," he said in a public letter to the French President.

In his weekly radio address earlier on Saturday, President Bush said “the American people can have confidence that our economy will bounce back”.

He didn’t put a timescale on the recovery, but said the U.S. government “has responded to this crisis with systematic and aggressive measures to protect the financial security of the American people”.

“These actions will take more time to have their full impact. But they are big enough and bold enough to work,” Bush said.

Ban Ki-moon offers to host financial crisis talks at UN

www.chinaview.cn 2008-10-19 01:45:04

QUEBEC CITY, 18 (Xinhua) --

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday supported French President Nicolas Sarkozy's call for global financial crisis talks and offered to host them at the UN headquarters in New York.

Ban met with Sarkozy on the sidelines of the 12th Francophone summit, after the French leader urged for an expanded meeting of the G8 leaders to seek an overhaul of the global financial system.

"I wish to confirm my strong support for your initiative, as EU president, to hold a expanded, emergency G-8 summit to address this urgent problem, and also to include the participation of the secretary-general of the United nations, as well as the heads of the world bank and the international monetary fund," Ban told Sarkozy in a letter.

"We both agree that there is no time to lose, and therefore I fully subscribe to your idea of convening such a forum in early December at the latest," he said.

Ban believed that "holding the summit at the United Nations, the symbol of multilateralism, will lend universal legitimacy to this endeavor and demonstrate a collective will to face this serious global challenge."

He cautioned that "the negative impact of the financial crisis on the world economies (should) not undermine the major UN efforts to achieve the millennium development goals, fight against the effects of climate change and address the food crisis."

Sarkozy's proposal for the crisis talks has won the support of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who reaffirmed his determination to restore confidence and normal functioning in the Canadian financial system.

Sarkozy holds that emerging countries like China and India and Arab countries should be included at the talks.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

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