Website of the UK government

Countries attending the Summit

As leader of the government of the host country, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has invited the Heads of State and/or government from the G20 countries (listed below).

So that other regions are represented, the Chair of The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the Chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the President of the EU Commission are also invited. The Chairman of the African Union Commission will also attend.

The Prime Minister is also inviting the heads of key international institutions, including the United Nations, World Bank and International Monetary Fund to contribute to relevant parts of the Summit agenda.

The G20

The following countries have full G20 membership:

• 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
  
• the EU (which has a rotating presidency, currently represented by the Czech Republic)

The aims of the Summit

The G20 was originally set up as an informal group in 1999, following the financial crisis in Asia. Their aim was to encourage international co-operation between finance ministers and central bankers.

With the worldwide economic downturn, the group has re-focused its efforts, starting with a meeting of heads of government which took place in Washington in November 2008.

The UK government, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the G20, has called this follow-up meeting to the Washington Summit to deal with the growing economic crisis.

The summit has several aims:

• to agree on more co-ordinated action to re-start the world economy
• to improve and strengthen the regulation of banks and other financial institutions, so that future crises can be prevented
• to agree on a plan for future reform - this will cover changes to the international institutions (such as the International Monetary Fund, or IMF) that regulate the world economy

The wider aim is to get countries to work together as an effective way of dealing with the economic crisis, rather than protecting their own national interests

Further information

There is much more information about the Summit on the official London Summit website produced by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

• Aims of the London Summit Opens new window

• London Summit - join the debate Opens new window