G20 leaders pledge to strive for cooperation, coordination, confidence

G20 leaders pledged on Friday to continue to strive for cooperation, coordination and confidence while engaging themselves in taking decisive actions so as to return to a job-rich, strong, sustainable and balanced growth path. "As leaders of the world's largest economies, we are committed to working cooperatively to address key global economic challenges," the leaders said in their joint statement, known as the St. Petersburg Declaration. While further responding to the opinion groups' call for inclusive growth for all, the leaders vowed in St. Petersburg not only to strive for strong, sustainable and balanced growth, but also for a more inclusive pattern of growth that will better mobilize the talents of the entire populations. The G20 leaders were aware that their work is far from complete and "it remains critical for G20 countries to focus all our joint efforts on engineering a durable exit from the longest and most protracted crisis in modern history." This awareness was elaborated by the St. Petersburg Declaration, which listed as the main challenges facing the global economy's weak growth, persistently high unemployment, financial market fragmentation, slower growth in some emerging economies, insufficient levels of private investment in many countries, high public debts, volatile capital flows, incomplete re-balancing of global demand and continued uncertainties about fiscal policy deliberations. Participants in St. Petersburg have formulated their action plan which was designed to boost economic activity and job creation, support the recovery, and address near-term risks in the meantime of sticking to their commitment to strengthening the foundations for strong, sustainable and balanced growth through ambitious but well-targeted reforms, especially in the sphere of financial regulation.