Twenty world leaders from the G20 member nations will meet in Seoul to discuss the future of world economics. The official statement will be released today at 4pm, and the world will be paying attention to this historic moment.
As well as being a diplomatic summit, this meeting will also be a heated, work-centered forum where conferences will be held even during meals. Amidst the 'currency wars' amongst countries vying for superiority in the recovering economy, this will set the future order of world economics and its direction.
The world leaders began their first round of heated discussions at the National Museum of Korea dinner meeting and returned late in the night to their respective hotels. They all were present at the conference by 9 am today.
Around 8:30am the leaders started arriving at the COEX Convention Center. Firstly, the leaders staying at the COEX hotel arrived while others via Equus limos or their own bulletproof vehicles surrounded by security detail followed.
The order of entrance was President Lee Myung Bak, President of Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mexico, France, Argentina, Russia and the United States followed by the Chairman of FSB. The Chairman of FSB arrived first to the convention and left the last. The arrival ceremony by itself lasted roughly 40 minutes.
At the reception area on the 3rd floor of the COEX lounge, the world leaders waited until everyone was present and moved to the round table in the next room. President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived into Korea the morning after attending the Armistice Day ceremony in Paris and met the other leaders at COEX.
The lounge, conference area and the dining area were all styled in traditional Korean decor while also implementing the most state of the art IT components.
The specially made round table was 11m in diameter, and the seating was arranged relative to the hosting of previous, present and scheduled G20 summits. So President Lee was flanked by the prime minister and president of Britain and France while in the next segment the previous host of the G20 summit, United States takes a seat next to the leader of Canada.
The conference started off with President Lee's opening speech. The first session continued last night's discussion on 'world economy and framework'. Whether the currency wars ceased or not, an agreement will be settled even at lower levels or competition will be continued and decided at the talks.
Since this is a matter of economic interest for the various nations, a heated discussion was expected. The eyes of the world were fixed on the two camps of the currency debate, President Obama of the US or President Hu Jintao of China.
The current account balance management policy is expecting resistance from the big trade-profiting nations such as China, Japan and Germany.
After the first session, the second session dealt with the issue of change in the IMF and the global financial security network. However, the conference time was flexible due to an expected elongation of the first session talks. Then there was a 'Family Photo' time scheduled after the second session talks.
The third session focused on a theme President Lee supports as a part of the Korea Initiative which is 'development'. As the agenda on development is enjoying wide support even from non-G20 nations, this session was expected to flow more quickly.
After the morning sessions were all over, business lunch was served.
During the business lunch, the theme of trade, climate change, and green growth was thrown on the 'table'. President Lee revisited the 'standstill' rule and voiced his concern on protectionism.
The world leaders continued on with 2 more sessions in the afternoon. The fourth session was planned to be on financial restriction reform and the fifth session will focus on energy and anti corruption for the business summit.
The financial restriction reform dealt with the solutions to the financial crisis at the time of the 2008 G20 summit, and was a place to officially approve the 'Basel III' plan to make restrictions more powerful. Agreements have already been made previously through international organizations.
The contents of the first ever business summit was relayed to the world leaders.
The G20 summit was concluded with the G20 summit declaration detailing the results of the 2-day talks. This declaration decided the direction and movement of the world economy, financial, and political climate.
President Lee had a press conference at the COEX media center at 4pm and explain the results of the summit. Briefings from various leaders including President Obama and chairmen of international organizations followed.
The official agenda of the G20 summit ended here, but there was also a special dinner scheduled afterwards.
The dinner was held for the leaders who stayed an extra day in Seoul, with President Sarkozy who will host the next G20 giving the opening speech, there will also be a special performance of 'Arirang' with head ballerina Kim Ju Won of the Korean National Ballet, Jazz vocalist Na Yoon Sun, a traditional fusion band 'Manchung' and vocalist Shin Young Ok will show off the best of Korean culture at the dinner event.
