Gordon Brown and Obama on the G-20

obama

London: Following are highlights of comments made by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US President Barack Obama in London on Wednesday ahead of the G20 summit of leading and emerging economies.

Obama on execution of G20 plan

"How well we execute in the months to come, how well we button down these regulations, how well we each in our own respective countries help the banks to deal with the impaired assets that they have on their books..., how effective we are in managing the huge out flows of capital from emerging markets and provide a buffer for the very poor and developing countries...how well we reform our international financial institutions so that they can be a more effective player in this whole process, all those things will help determine whether this ends up being a slow rolling crisis, that takes a lot more time to cure it or whether we start seeing significant recovery.

Also see

• File your Tax returns online • Special: Tata Nano - Jai Ho • Free of cost ATMs! • Recession in India • Auto Special • Gadgets & Gizmos • Latest on Satyam fiasco

"I don't think there is any doubt that 2009 is going to be difficult.

Obama on nuclear stockpiles

"There are very real differences between the United States and Russia. And I have no interests in papering those over those, but there are also a broad set of common interests that we can pursue. Both countries I believe have an interest in reducing nuclear stockpiles and promoting nuclear non-profileration."

Obama’s G-20 pitch

Obama on Russia, nuclear proliferation

"A good place to start is the issue of nuclear proliferation and one of the things that I've always believed strongly is that both the United States and Russia and other nuclear powers will be in a much stronger position to strengthen what has become a somewhat fragile, threadbare non-proliferation treaty if we are leading by example and if we can take serious steps to reduce the nuclear arsenal."

Expectations from G-20

Brown on agreement

"We are within a few hours, I think, of agreeing a global plan for economic recovery and reform and I think the significance of this is that we are looking at every aspect."

Obama on apparent rift over stimulus/regulation

"The truth is that's just arguing at the margins. The core notion that government has to take some steps to deal with a contracting global market place and that we should be promoting growth -- that's not in dispute.

G-20 meet: Tighter regulation in store

"On the regulatory side, this notion that somehow there are those who are pushing for regulation and those who are resisting regulation is belied by the facts.

"(US Treasury Secretary) Tim Geithner who is sitting here today went before Congress and proposed as aggressive a set of regulatory measures as any that have emerged among G20 members -- that was before we showed up."

More India business stories

Obama on consensus

"I am absolutely confident that this meeting will reflect enormous consensus about the need to work in concert to deal with these problems."

Brown on recovery plan

"We are within a few hours, I think, of agreeing a global plan for economic recovery and reform."

Obama on risk

"...In the long-term making sure that we've got a set of ... regulations that are up to the task and that includes a number that will be discussed at this summit.

"I think there's a lot of convergence between all the parties involved in that, for example, to focus not on the legal form that a particular financial product takes or the institution that it emerges from but rather what is the risk involved, what is the function of this product and how do we regulate that adequately."

Obama on G20 diplomacy

"I came here to put forward ideas but I also came here to listen, not to lecture. Having said that, we must not miss an opportunity to lead, to confront a crisis that knows no borders.

"We have a responsibility to co-ordinate our actions and to focus on common ground, not on our occasional differences. If we do, I believe we can make enormous progress and that's why in preparation for these meetings I have reached out and consulted with many of the leaders who are here."

"History shows us that when nations fail to cooperate, when they turn away from one another, when they turn inward, the price for our people only grows -- that's how the Great Depression deepened. That's a mistake that we cannot afford to repeat."

Obama on regulation

"The United States certainly has some accounting to do with respect of a regulatory system that was inadequate."

Obama on protectionism

"We have to reject protectionism and accelerate our efforts to support emerging markets and we have to put in place a structure that can sustain our cooperation in the months and years ahead."

Obama on Iran

"We are both committed to diplomacy with Iran that offers the Islamic Republic the opportunity of a better future if it abandons its nuclear weapons ambitions."

Obama on agreement

"I know that the G20 nations are appropriately pursuing their own approaches and as Gordon (Brown) indicated, we are not going to agree on every point."

Brown on trade finance boost

"The fourth test is to reject protectionism and kick-start global trade, and I suggested an absolute minimum of $100 billion of trade finance that is so desperately needed."

Obama on growth

"The United States is committed to working alongside the United Kingdom in doing whatever it takes to stimulate growth and demand and to ensure that a crisis like this never happens again."

SEARCH