24 Asia-Pacific countries confer on upcoming G20 summit

[News_Editor]

24 Asia-Pacific countries confer on upcoming G20 summit

2010-10-26 07:40:17 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- Representatives from twenty-four Asia-Pacific nations gathered for a United Nations (UN) meeting in Bangkok on Monday to discuss crucial issues related to economic growth and recovery ahead of next month's summit of the so-called Group of 20 (G20), the UN said.

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) are organizing the two-day consultations in Bangkok, which seek to coordinate the region's voice and discuss non-G20 perspectives.

Among other issues, participants are slated to confer on how narrowing development gaps, financial stability and global governance reforms.

The G20 meeting is scheduled to take place in Seoul on November 11 and November 12. According to ESCAP Executive Secretary Noeleen Heyzer, the upcoming G20 meeting specifically will be remembered for bringing development on the G20 agenda for the first time.

Addressing the start of the Bangkok meeting, Heyzer said that the "challenge thrown up by the financial crisis in terms of diminishing aggregate demand can be turned into an opportunity for promoting inclusive development in the region, which has 950 million poor and faces wide development gaps."

In addition, Heyzer underlined the need for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It also urged nations to reach the eight anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline and to play a central role in sustaining growth, something the entire world has a stake in, Heyzer said.

Several nations taking part in Monday's gathering expressed support for the assessment by Nagesh Kumar, ESCAP's Chief Economist, that Asia has considerable headroom to generate domestic demand by promoting inclusive development policies.

Officials say that new business opportunities and additional domestic demand could be spurred by lifting the region's nearly 1 billion poor people out of poverty.

Countries also emphasized the importance of closer cooperation between the G20 and the UN, especially in allowing all nations to voice their concerns and priorities.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-10-26