8 May 2010
Ottawa, Ontario
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today that the Government of Canada has extended invitations to the leaders of Ethiopia, Malawi, The Netherlands, Spain and Vietnam to attend the G-20 Summit in Toronto from June 26-27, 2010.
“G-20 leaders have important work to do when we meet in Toronto in June and participation by these countries will bring valuable perspective to that task,” the Prime Minister said.
Canada will host a focused G-20 Summit that will seek to provide credible and concrete solutions to global economic challenges. As host country Canada fully supports the G-20 in its role as the premier forum for international economic cooperation.
G-20 leaders met in Washington in November 2008, in London in April 2009 and in Pittsburgh in September 2009, where they agreed on coordinated actions to ease the worst effects of the recent global economic crisis and encourage a quicker recovery.
“In Toronto, we need to meet our past commitments to ensure recovery of the global economy and restore jobs around the world. As a group representing major economies, the G-20 also has a responsibility to usher in a new era of economic cooperation - one that will result in stronger, more balanced and sustainable global growth.”
Also attending the Toronto G-20 Summit will be the heads of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Financial Stability Board, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Labour Organization, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations.
Canada’s Summit of G-20 leaders will follow a separate and distinct meeting of G-8 leaders in Muskoka from June 25-26, which will focus on urgent development and peace and security challenges. The theme for both of Canada’s summits is “Recovery and New Beginnings.”
The G-20 includes 19 countries – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Republic of Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America – and the European Union.
The G-20 countries account for 90 percent of global output, 80 percent of world trade and two-thirds of the world's population. They represent important industrial and emerging-market countries from all regions of the world, which gives the G-20 significant legitimacy and influence over management of the global economy and financial system.
