Editor's Note:

It was overcast with occasional showers in Pittsburgh -- the city which sits at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongohela Rivers in Western Pennsylvania, the starting point of the Ohio River -- seeming to damped the mood throughout the day yesterday. Pittsburgh area officials had done a superb job putting out the welcome mat to the leaders and delegations from the world's top 19 industrialized and developing nations and the European Union -- the Group of Twenty (G-20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. Satellite broadcast trucks took up positions around the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Police units moved around in strength downtown and in areas where demonstrations were being organized -- 14 arrests have been recorded already. Local businesses prepared for two days of reduced activity as traffic restrictions start to take hold. And come Thursday morning the G-20 Summit will be called to order, and despite the weather and the demonstrators outside leaders of countries controlling 85 percent of the world's financial wherewithal will pick up where they left off in London in the spring, continuing to put the pieces of the global economy back together.

SUSRIS will provide special reports from the Pittsburgh Summit through email, updates to a SUSRIS.org special section and through the SUSRIS blog. Check the SUSRIS.org homepage for all the Summit update links.

G-20 Leaders Set to Review Global Recovery Progress, Steps Ahead
Patrick W. Ryan

The Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations will open its third summit in ten months Thursday as world leaders express cautious optimism that a global economic catastrophe has been avoided and there are signs of recovery. Leaders and delegations, including Saudi Arabia’s banking and finance officials, will assemble for two days in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to assess economic progress, decide what needs to be done to further the recovery and to plan for sustained growth.

The potential of an economic catastrophe that faced the world when the G-20 leaders met for the first time in Washington last November is still on the minds of the summiteers. “A year ago, our economy was in a freefall,” said U.S. President Barack Obama in a pre-Summit statement. “Some economists were predicting a second Great Depression. Immediate action was required to rescue the economy.”

Through a series of unilateral and multilateral steps to restore worldwide financial stability the G-20 countries, while still facing significant challenges, have laid the groundwork for sustained economic growth. At the April London summit G-20 leaders, who represent 85 percent of the world’s economy, pledged to, “do whatever is necessary to,” among other measures, restore confidence, growth and jobs; repair the financial system; strengthen financial regulation; fund and reform our international financial institutions; promote global trade and investment; and build a sustainable recovery.

The consensus is that recovery is underway but as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a U.S. Congressional panel earlier this month there is “still a long way to go before true recovery takes hold” in the American economy. He reflected that, “September 2009 is a far cry from the crippling fear and panic of September 2008.” Meanwhile, Saudi investment firm Jadwa, in its September bulletin forecast a sustainable economic recovery in the Kingdom is likely this year. Jadwa Chief Economist Brad Bourland wrote there were indications “the worst is now over for the economy and based on our assumptions that external conditions will continue to get better … we expect a sustainable recovery to take hold in the fourth quarter.”

The Pittsburgh Summit will build on action plans of the earlier G-20 sessions -- leader summits and meetings of finance and bank officials -- in an effort to strengthen the recovery’s momentum and to coordinate the relaxation of emergency measures instituted in the face of financial meltdown, including about $5 trillion in worldwide fiscal stimulus packages. Finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in London earlier this month ahead of the summit called for building on what has already been achieved and tackling what challenges lie ahead. Their communiqué said, “We agreed in the need for a transparent and credible process for withdrawing our extraordinary fiscal, monetary and financial sector support as recovery becomes firmly secured.”

The G-20 Summit is only one of a flurry of international events vying for world leaders’ attention, including the opening of the 64th United Nations General Assembly in New York this week. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah will be in the Kingdom for the two-day inauguration celebration at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and will not travel to Pittsburgh or New York.

The choice of Pittsburgh as the Summit venue was seen as a tribute to that city’s resurgence as noted by President Obama, “Pittsburgh stands as a bold example of how to create new jobs and industries while transitioning to a 21st century economy. As a city that has transformed itself from the city of steel to a center for high-tech innovation –including green technology, education and training, and research and development – Pittsburgh will provide both a beautiful backdrop and a powerful example for our work.”

The Group of Twenty was established in 1999 to address global economic issues among major industrialized and developing countries. Members are the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.

-- Patrick Ryan is editor-in-chief of SUSRIS.

SUSRIS will provide special reports from the Pittsburgh Summit through email, updates to a SUSRIS.org special section and through the SUSRIS blog. Check the www.SUSRIS.org homepage for all the Summit update links.