Sunday February 7, 2010 21:32
Finance ministers of the G7 in the extreme north of Canada
Posted by Business Plan as Finance
One by one, G7 finance ministers and central bankers arrived in Canada’s far north Friday for two days of talks aimed at keeping a tentative global economic recovery on course.
IQALUIT, Canada (AFP) –
One by one, G7 finance ministers and central bankers arrived in Canada's far north Friday for two days of talks aimed at keeping a tentative global economic recovery on course.
Their host, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, was to take policymakers dog-sledding on Frobisher Bay, which is covered with unusually sparse ice in the dead of winter.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was expected later, and so would miss the taste of Inuit culture.
All of the delegates from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States were then to gather for a dinner meeting at 6:45 pm (2345 GMT) at a hotel restaurant in this wind-swept, snow-covered town of 6,000 to discuss their elite club's future role.
With the G20 taking the lead as the world's premier economic forum, the G7 is struggling to remain relevant.
"There's absolutely no doubt that the pendulum has swung to the G20," Don Drummond, chief economist for TDBank Financial Group and a former senior Finance Department official, told the daily National Post.
Host Canada said it wants the Group of Seven to return to its "roots" with "smaller," "informal" and "frank" discussions.
Delegates were asked to leave their suits and ties at home and wear warm sweaters instead for the gathering some 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) north of Montreal.
In Iqaluit, the G7 will not publish an end of conference statement outlining ideas or measures for their respective governments to enact. This process usually dominates much of the talks and requires substantial advance negotiations.
Instead, ministers will hold a press conference Saturday with Flaherty summarizing what was said behind closed doors.
Flaherty said in a statement the meeting will not "revolve around negotiated communiques and scripted text."
"It will be a time for frank discussion and a collective determination to help put the global economy firmly on the road to recovery," he said.
Discussions will focus on current economic conditions as G7 countries look to solidify a fragile recovery, and on global financial regulations to curb the excessive risk-taking that fueled a near-meltdown of the global financial system.
Managing the financial system is likely to be the most contentious issue.
France, Germany and Italy are expected to renew their call for international regulations to curb excessive speculation across borders.
German Finance Minister Rainer Bruderle said Tuesday that no nation on their own could hope to reform the financial markets.
A senior US Treasury official meanwhile said the "undervalued" Chinese yuan would also be discussed because it underpins trade, competitiveness and capital flow issues.
Local Inuit protesting a European Union ban on Canadian seal products were reportedly to slaughter a seal outside the Nunavut legislative assembly when G7 finance ministers are meeting.
Federal police said few activists are expected from elsewhere due to the high cost of flying to Iqaluit and a lack of accommodations — nearly all 300 hotel rooms have been booked for conference delegates and journalists.
A few exceptions were the Pew Environmental Group, which produced a report warning of high costs associated with retreating Arctic sea ice and snow and thawing permafrost, and the World Wildlife Fund, which planned to demand a financial commitment from G7 nations to address climate change.
Saturday's sessions will cover financial sector reforms, trade imbalances and a spotlight on aid for rebuilding Haiti.
Iqaluit townsfolk are also organizing a farewell community feast on Saturday evening, where raw seal is to be served. Officials said most of the delegates will have departed by then.
Read more on AFP via Yahoo! News
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