What Summit leaders have said in the run-up to the London Summit

 

Videos of world leaders:

1. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown introduces the London Summit website;
2. excerpt from the Wen Jiabao/Gordon Brown press conference;
3. Gordon Brown launching 'The Road to the London Summit';
4. US President Barack Obama with Gordon Brown;  
5. Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajiva;
6. Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij;
7. Gordon Brown at the African leaders’ round-table;
8. Spain's Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero;
9. Spain's Finance Minister Pedro Solbes;
10. Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

Quotations from world leaders in the days before the London Summit:

Barack Obama, President, United States 

30 March. Interview with the Financial Times. 'The most important task for all of us is to deliver a strong message of unity in the face of crisis. All the participating countries recognise that in the face a severe global contraction we have to each take steps to promote economic growth and trade; that means a robust approach to stimulus, fighting off protectionism.'

Gordon Brown, Prime Minister, United Kingdom. Chair, London Summit

24 March. European Parliament. 'Starting at our debate today as we prepare for the London summit next week, I propose that we as Europe take a central role replacing what was called the old Washington consensus with a new consensus for our times. I am confident that at the London summit we can build on the action that the European Council and G20 ministers agreed a few days ago: that we will do whatever it takes to create the growth and the jobs we need.'

Hu Jintao, President , China

7 March. Beijing. 'Challenge and opportunity always come together. Under certain conditions, one could be transformed into the other.'

Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister, India

31 March. New Delhi. 'The G20 has an important role to play in addressing the global economic and financial slowdown by taking coordinated and purposeful action. It is important and necessary for the Summit to take credible decisions which will help to halt and reverse the current slowdown and to instil a sense of confidence in the global economy.'

Nicolas Sarkozy, President, France

24 March. 'The London summit should not be purely mechanical, moreover it should be a political summit where we question whether to reform capitalism or leave the field clear for those who want to destroy it. We know where anti-capitalism leads. Surely we do not want to recreate the dramas of the past? Now let us not delay any longer. The current attitude of excess and drifting along must come to an end.'

Angela Merkel, Chancellor, Germany

27 March. Interview with the Financial Times. ‘We are coming together to make joint decisions, not to compete against each other,' she said. 'We all want the same thing: to put the world economy back on its feet as fast as possible and to prevent such a crisis from happening again.'

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President, Argentina

18 February. Buenos Aires. 'We are going to discuss how to address the globalisation avalanche which has led to the collapse of sacred icons and totems which had been enshrined and about which nobody could discuss or question without the risk of being considered a heretic.'

Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister, Australia

29 March. The Andrew Marr Show, BBC TV. 'Given that this is a global economic challenge, only the G20 has the global economic reach to provide the response necessary to begin to mend this global economic recession and to support the restoration of jobs around the world.'

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President, Brazil

16 March. New York. 'Protectionism at this point would, in my opinion, make the economic crisis worse. If we shut off international commerce it would be like taking a fish out of water, it's going to lack air.'

Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister, The Netherlands

30 March. 'Fighting the current economic and financial crisis demands resolve and commitment. We need to act, and we need to act together.'

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister, Spain

30 March. 'The G20 Summit must represent a new stage in the international community's efforts to overcome the financial and economic crises… The key challenge of the G20 is to link the short-term response to the crisis with the task of fundamental reform. We need to build a robust institutional framework to underpin, not only globalisation, but also to address market failures.'

Taro Aso, Prime Minister, Japan

22 January. Tokyo. 'I have renewed confidence that the world's largest and the second-largest economies can work together by joining hands.'

Felipe Calderon, President, Mexico

12 March. Mexico City. 'We always believe that, particularly in difficult times, protectionism is not the correct answer is the wrong answer. If something can be learned from the crisis of the mid-30 is that the imposition of protectionist measures and encouraging slows the recovery of the Mexican economy.'

Dmitry Medvedev, President, Russia

15 March. Russian Government website. 'If you ask what we are proposing, it is simply a more equitable international financial system. In principle all states are talking about this. The issue is where to put the emphasis and whether we want to move forward or simply remain stuck in the situation we have today. Our position is that we need to move forward. I hope that this position will be well-received by our partners during my visit to London for the G20 summit.'

Lee Myung-bak, President, Republic of Korea

4 March. Interview with The Australian. 'The recovery of the global economy will depend on actions the US Government takes. It's very important for us to strengthen international co-operation so that global economies can co-ordinate large fiscal stimulus packages and we can recover together.'

King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabia

29 November. Interview with Al-Siyassah. 'What they are in need, as they say, is the restoration of confidence. I think that if the big world economies get acquainted with means of cooperation among them, then they will become capable of surpassing the crisis as they surpassed previous crises.'

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister, Turkey

27 March on CNN Turk. 'I will meet with the managing director of the Fund during the G-20 Summit in London on April 1-2. After completing the talks process, we will sign an agreement. If we cannot agree with IMF officials, then we keep on preserving current conjuncture.'

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President, Indonesia

5 March. Bandar Lampung. 'I attend the G-20 meeting in order to discuss leaders of major countries on how to jointly overcome the global crisis [and] voice Indonesia's interest, so that our economy could be managed and our people could be protected, though there are obstacles.'

Kgalema Motlanthe, President, South Africa

11 March. Johannesburg. 'No country can respond to the global financial crisis in isolation. South Africa's banking system will play a key role in ensuring that we come out of the global economic recession. We have what it takes to ensure we pull out of this difficult pattern.'