London - Concluding his first international summit, President Barack Obama hailed agreements at the emergency meeting of world powers Thursday as a "turning point in our pursuit of global economic recovery." But he cautioned, "There are no guarantees."

    The new U.S. leader said the heads of industrial countries that met in London agreed on "unprecedented steps to restore growth and prevent a crisis like this from happening again."

    He spoke shortly after G-20 leaders pledged an additional $1.1 trillion in financing to the International Monetary Fund and other global institutions and declared a crackdown on tax havens and hedge funds. The leaders announced the creation of a supervisory body to flag problems in the global financial system - but did not satisfy calls from the U.S. and others for new stimulus measures.

Also see below:     
President Barack Obama's Remarks After the G-20 Summit    â€¢

    Despite that failure, Obama called the one-day London gathering "very productive" and historic because of the scope of the challenges the world faces in righting the economic crisis that's wreaking havoc on virtually every country.

    "The challenge is clear. The global economy is contracting," Obama said.

    In a one-hour news conference packed with media from across the world, Obama said, "We're starting to see some restoration of America's standing in the world." He had been asked about diminished esteem under his predecessor, George W. Bush.

    "I do not buy into the notion that America can't lead in the world," Obama said, but he added that it is "very important for us to be able to forge partnerships as opposed to dictating solutions."

    He acknowledged that some participants during the summit made comments that seemed to blame America and Wall Street for triggering the crisis that has spread around the world.

    "It's hard to deny that some of the contagion did start on Wall Street," Obama said, asserting that some firms took "wild and unjustified risks" and some government regulators were "asleep at the switch."

    But he said there were problems in other parts of the world as well.

    As for the summit, he praised the G-20 nations for rejecting protectionism that hampers foreign trade and could deepen the economic crisis, and he urged global unity, saying, "We owe it to all of our citizens to act."

    Still, he said, "it is hard for 20 heads of state to bridge our differences."

    "I think we did OK," he said. "When I came here it was with the intention of listening and learning but also providing American leadership."

    He said the document the G-20 produced and actions that will follow "reflect a range of our priorities."

    "We wanted to make sure we had a strong, coordinated response to growth" and "we thought it was important we had a strong, coordinated regulatory response," Obama said - and added that both were achieved.

    When asked, however, he could not point to an individual summit accomplishment that would help recession-battered Americans beyond general points such as fighting protectionism and making the global economy work together.

    "This is not a panacea, but it is a critical step," Obama said.

    He declined to specify where the White House compromised, saying the final communiqué reflected a consensus of world leaders.

    "Each country has its own quirks or issues that a leader may decide was really really important," Obama said.

    He said he was committed to "forging a consensus instead of dictating our terms" and argued that the United States acting alone would only be "halfway effective, not even half."

    On his whirlwind, weeklong European trip, the new U.S. president also met privately with other heads of state on the sidelines of the summit.

    He said he had had productive one-on-one talks with leaders of Russia, China, Great Britain and India, on topics that included ways to "reduce the nuclear threat" throughout the world. He called for a coordinated response to North Korea's plans to launch a multistage rocket in the coming days.

    Earlier Thursday, Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed on a need "for a stern, united response from the international community" in light of North Korea's efforts toward a threatened satellite launch, and the White House announced that Lee would visit Obama in Washington on June 16.

    Officials said the two leaders also discussed a free trade pact between the countries that would slash tariffs and other barriers to trade.

    Obama has hinted he might seek to renegotiate a 2007 deal between South Korea and the U.S. that was hammered out under former President Bush but that legislators in the two countries failed to ratify amid opposition from farmers and labor groups. Officials said Obama told Lee that he understood there were difficulties with the deal on both sides, but that he wanted to "make progress" on it.

    Obama also met on Thursday with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss how their countries could work together. Obama had been expected to reassure Singh about plans to boost aid to India's rival, Pakistan.

    Obama wouldn't declare that the steps the G-20 took would prevent a deeper recession.

    "In life there are no guarantees; in economics there are no guarantees," Obama said, coughing and sniffling at times as he battled a cold he said he'd been fighting all week.

    "There are always risks involved," he added. Still, he said, "I have no doubt, though, that the steps that have been taken are critical to preventing us sliding into a depression."

    He called the G-20 prescriptions bolder and likely to work more quickly than any international response to an economic crisis in memory, and he said he was confident the steps would have "a concrete effect" in each nation of creating jobs, saving jobs, expanding the economy, loosening credit and restoring confidence in the financial markets.

    The steps "were necessary," Obama said. "Whether they were sufficient, we've got to wait and see."

President Barack Obama's Remarks After the G-20 Summit

Thursday 02 April 2009

by: President Barack Obama, t r u t h o u t | Transcript

    London, United Kingdom

    Earlier today, we finished a very productive summit that will be, I believe, a turning point in our pursuit of global economic recovery. By any measure, the London summit was historic. It was historic because of the size and the scope of the challenges that we face and because of the timeliness and magnitude of our response.

    The challenge is clear: The global economy is contracting. Trade is shrinking. Unemployment is rising. The international finance system is nearly frozen.

    Even these facts can't fully capture the crisis that we're confronting, because behind them is the pain and uncertainty that so many people are facing. We see it back in the United States. We see it here in London. We see it around the world: families losing their homes, workers losing their jobs and their savings, students who are deferring their dreams.

    So many have lost so much. Just to underscore this point, back in the United States, jobless claims released today were the highest in 26 years.

    We owe it to all of our citizens to act, and to act with a sense of urgency.

    In an age where our economies are linked more closely than ever before, the whole world has been touched by this devastating downturn. And today the world's leaders have responded with an unprecedented set of comprehensive and coordinated actions.

    Now, just keep in mind some historical context. Faced with similar global challenges in the past, the world was slow to act, and people paid an enormous price.

    That was true in the Great Depression, when nations prolonged and worsened the crisis by turning inward, waiting for more than a decade to meet the challenge together. Even as recently as the 1980s, a slow global response deepened and widened a debt crisis in Latin America that pushed millions into poverty.

    Today we've learned the lessons of history. I know that, in the days leading up to the summit, some of you in the press, some commentators, confused honest and open debate with irreconcilable differences.

    But after weeks of preparation and two days of careful negotiation, we have agreed on a series of unprecedented steps to restore growth and prevent a crisis like this from happening again.

    Let me outline what I think has been most significant.

    Number one, we are committed to growth and job creation. All G-20 nations have acted to stimulate demand, which will total well over $2 trillion in global fiscal expansion.

    The United States is also partnering with the private sector to clean out the troubled assets, the legacy assets that are crippling some banks, and using the full force of the government to ensure that our action leads directly to loans to businesses, large and small, as well as individuals who depend on credit. And these efforts will be amplified by our G-20 partners, who are pursuing similarly comprehensive programs.

    We also agreed on bold action to support developing countries so that we aren't faced with declining markets that the global economy depends on. Together, the G-20 is tripling the IMF's lending capacity and promoting lending by multilateral development banks to increase the purchasing power and expand markets in every country.

    We've also rejected the - the protectionism that could deepen this crisis. History tells us that turning inward can help turn a downturn into a depression.

    And this cooperation between the world's leading economies signals our support for open markets, as does our multilateral commitment to trade finance that will grow our exports and create new jobs. That's all on the growth front.

    Next, we made enormous strides in committing ourselves to comprehensive reform of a failed regulatory system. And together, I believe that we must put an end to the bubble-and-bust economy that has stood in the way of sustained growth and enabled abusive risk- taking that endangers our prosperity.

    At home, back in the states, our efforts began with an approach that Secretary Geithner proposed last week, the strongest regulatory reforms any nation has contemplated so far to prevent the massive failure of responsibility that we've already seen. Today these principles have informed and enabled the coordinated action that we will take with our G-20 partners.

    To prevent future crises, we agreed to increase transparency and capital protections for our financial institutions. We're extending supervision to all systemically important institutions, markets and products, including hedge funds.

    We'll identify jurisdictions that fail to cooperate, including tax havens, and take action to defend our financial system.

    We will re-establish the Financial Stability Forum with a stronger mandate.

    And we will reform and expand the IMF and World Bank so they are more efficient, effective and representative.

    Finally, we are protecting those who don't always have a voice at the G-20, but who have suffered greatly in this crisis. And the United States is ready to lead in this endeavor. In the coming days, I intend to work with Congress to provide $448 million in immediate assistance to vulnerable populations from Africa to Latin America and to double support for food safety to over $1 billions that we are giving people the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty. We will also support the United Nations and World Bank as they coordinate the rapid assistance necessary to prevent humanitarian catastrophe. I have to say, though, that this is not just charity. These are all future markets for all countries and future drivers of world economic growth.

    And let me also underscore my appreciation to Prime Minister Brown, his entire team, and all my colleagues from around the world who contributed to the summit's success. You know, it's hard for 20 heads of state to bridge their differences. We've all got our own national policies. We all have our own assumptions, our own politically cultures. But our citizens are all hurting. They all need us to come together. So I'm pleased that the G-20 as agreed to meet again this fall because I believe that this is just the beginning. Our problems are not going to be solved in one meeting. They're not going to be solved in two meetings. We're going to have to be proactive in shaping events and persistent in monitoring our progress to determine whether further action is needed. I also want to just make a few remarks about additional meetings I had outside of the G-20 context.

    While here in London, I had the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings with leaders of Russia, China, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and India as well as Great Britain. These discussions were extraordinarily valuable and productive. Of course, we spoke about additional steps to promote economic recovery and growth, but we also discussed coordinated actions on a range of issues: How we could reduce the nuclear threat, how we could forge a coordinated response to North Korea's planned missile launch, how we can turn back terrorism and stabilize Afghanistan, how we can protect our planet from the scourge of climate change. I'm encouraged that we laid the groundwork for real and lasting progress on a host of these issues.

    Ultimately, the challenges of the 21st century can't be met without collective action. Agreement will almost never be easy, and results won't always come quickly. But I am committed to respecting different points of view and to forging a consensus instead of dictating our terms. That's how we made progress in the last few days. That's how we will advance and uphold our ideals in the months and years to come.

    You know, at home, I've often spoken about a new era of responsibility. I believe that this era must not end at our borders. In a world that's more and more interconnected, we all have responsibilities to work together to solve common challenges. And although it will take time, I am confident that we will rebuild global prosperity if we act with a common sense of purpose, persistence, and the optimism that the moment demands.