Prime Minister Kan's Visit to the G20 Seoul Summit: Leaders Agree to Enhance International Cooperation for Sustainable Growth of the World Economy

G20 Leaders convened a meeting in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, on November 11-12. The Leaders held frank discussions on how to ensure their cooperation to achieve sustainable growth of the global economy as imminent threats from the global financial and economic crisis ebbed. It was important that Leaders agreed to further strengthen economic policy coordination at the G20 toward the next meeting in France, 2011. This proved G20's importance as a forum for international economic cooperation.

In particular, G20 Leaders established the Seoul Action Plan to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth, confirming their continuous efforts in areas such as monetary and exchange rate policies, trade and development policies, fiscal policies, financial reforms, and structural reforms. Leaders also agreed that "indicative guidelines" to assess large imbalances would be discussed under the French Presidency next year.

In Seoul, the G20 took up the issue of development for the first time and had a fruitful discussion. Prime Minister Kan, citing Japan's post-war experiences, emphasized the importance of good governance and infrastructure development as a foundation for sustainable development, and of sharing the knowledge and experiences that G20 members have accumulated as donors and recipients. He expressed Japan's intention, both in public and private sectors, to further contribute to development with its advanced technologies and experiences. Prime Minister Kan called for emerging countries to make further efforts toward an early conclusion of the WTO Doha Development Agenda based on the progress made. The prime minister introduced the Basic Policy on Comprehensive Economic Partnerships announced just prior to the G20 and APEC, and expressed his determination to continue to actively engage in various trade negotiations, including the WTO.