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G-20 Summit kicks off today

05 September 2013 04:57 (UTC +04:00)

President Vladimir Putin, in a departure from Russia’s longstanding opposition to intervention in Syria, said that he may support a Council resolution authorizing the use of force, if it is proved beyond doubt that the Syrian government used chemical weapons, but warned the U.S. and its allies against pursuing unilateral action in Syria.

Canada will continue to push G-20 members to reduce government deficit and debt, despite dwindling support for the policy as employment fails to gain momentum in Europe and elsewhere, even after a slow yet sustained economic recovery in the past quarters.

“We want to see that fiscal consolidation continued,” Andrew MacDougall, a spokesman for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, was quoted as saying byReuters. “If you don’t have your books in order, it limits your ability to maneuver, so the longer you put that decision off, the harder your choices become.”

G-20 member nations will present separate fiscal strategies rather than adopt a universal measure to achieve fiscal targets, Reuters reported, citing another Canadian official.

Tax Evasion, Global Trade

Ways to combat tax evasion, which was high on the agenda of the G-8 summit in June, will remain in the spotlight during the G-20 meet, and it is seen as one of the topics on which the group, including the U.S. and Russia, may reach an agreement.

The G-20 attempts to modify the international tax structure to prevent wealthy industrialists and multinational companies from exploiting differences in taxation across world nations. Finance ministers from G-20 nations formally extended support, in July, to adopt the plan, and Thursday’s summit is expected to become a milestone in updating a decades-old global tax system.

Talks on improving international trade, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, agreement, are also expected to take place on the sidelines of the summit.

TPP is one of the most ambitious free-trade agreements ever proposed and is currently being negotiated between the U.S., Australia, Canada, Singapore, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru and Vietnam.