Goodbye G20, hello APEC

As one major world summit another one is about to begin.

Leaders from 21 nations and four international organizations met over the weekend during the Group of 20 (G20) summit. The G20 representatives signed an agreement pledging to “combat the current global economic crisis, based on ‘closer macroeconomic cooperation.’”

Analysts and politicians are divided on the impact of the G20 summit. Indeed, the global press reactions vary from calling the forum’s results “more than just diplomatic blather” or “a disappointing failure.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva praised the G20 summit in remarks he made during his weekly radio show yesterday. Lula viewed the conference as vital in providing increased economic clout to developing states:

"The meeting is important because it changes the logic of policy decisions," Lula said in his weekly radio address. "It's no longer the G8, now the G20 has an important role"…
The meeting strengthened a spirit of multilateralism on economic decision-making, he said, adding: "Finally, all the countries agreed that we need to make collective decisions to avoid policies taken by one country hurting another."

A test of this “spirit of multilateralism” will surely be seen during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference this weekend in Peru. Peruvian deputy foreign minister Gonzalo Gutierrez hoped that the APEC forum would act as “a supplement” to the G20 meeting.

The APEC summit will also serve as a test of China’s increasing influence in Latin America. In anticipation of the conference, Chinese President Hu Jintao is visiting several countries in the region including Costa Rica and Cuba.

Image- BBC News (Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush during the G20 summit.)
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Xinhua, AP, Reuters, AFP, csmonitor.com, The Telegraph, The Economist