By Lee Tae-hoon
France, the next host of the G20 summit in 2011, is gearing up to tackle tasks that no other host nation has ever attempted to undertake in the framework of the previous G8 and G20 summits ― reform of the international monetary system and the United Nations.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy firmly stated in August that he will place the two ambitious goals at the top of the agenda, when he unveiled a set of plans for France’s G20 summit.
France will also plan to uphold the Korea Initiative ― development issues and the establishment of a global financial safety net ― that President Lee Myung-bak proposed last year to bring a new perspective to the forum for global economic cooperation.
French officials, including Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer said, Paris will work hard to further develop the Korea Initiative.
“The French presidency of the G20 intends to continue all the work that has been done by the current presidency, and as I said there have been remarkable achievements in many fields,” Noyer said in October.
France, however, will take a slightly different approach in handling development issues by placing a stronger emphasis on improving efficiency of aid distribution, according to John Kirton, director of the G8 Research Group and co-director of the G20 Research Group in Toronto.
The so-called, “nine pillars” of the development agenda selected at the Seoul summit, included infrastructure building, trade promotion, human resources development, private investment, job creation and knowledge sharing.
France has expressed strong willingness to follow in the footsteps of Korea in hosting the G20 Business Summit, which brought together some 120 CEOs and business leaders of the world’s largest companies in Seoul, Cheong Wa Dae officials said.
The Business Summit was first devised and proposed by President Lee at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland early this year.
Observers point out that Korea’s successful hosting of the summit and Sarkozy’s strong zeal to follow suit will likely further institutionalize the G20 as the world’s main economic governing council.
There has been no mandate on how long the 20 nations will continue to hold the presidential meeting.
Sarkozy will also likely push for the creation of a G20 Secretariat, which Korea strongly supports, in a bid to oversee the implementation of the leaders’ agreements, and provide accountability.
Some, however, say Sarkozy has set too lofty goals for the 2011 summit, largely driven by his own political ambitions.
They say Sarkozy is pushing the French Initiatives as a springboard to the 2012 presidential election in France, when he is expected to run for re-election.
