Asia-Europe summit calls for financial reforms
Asian and European leaders concluded a meeting on the international economic crisis Saturday with a statement of intentions but no detailed plans.
More than 40 leaders meeting at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Beijing agreed to "undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems."
That could include having the International Monetary Fund (IMF) help struggling countries.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for government central banks and the IMF to get ready to meet financial emergencies in developing nations.
While developed countries have been hit the hardest by the financial meltdown, "we fear the next shoe to drop will be emerging economies," he said Friday.
The summit in Beijing has been characterized as a warm-up for the global economic meeting set for Nov. 15 in Washington. That meeting of the G20 leaders is expected to develop principles to reform international financial regulations to prevent a recurrence of the meltdown that is shaking the world economy now.
The leaders "have all expressed their willingness for the Washington summit to be a place where we make some decisions," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
European Union Commission President Jose Barroso told reporters that there was "a shared determination and commitment of Europe and Asia to work together."
With files from the Associated Press
0 comments:
Post a Comment