2010-11-02 09:45

WASHINGTON - The Group of 20 (G20) plays not only crucial role in global economy, but also is important to the US domestic growth agenda, according to a White House briefing on Monday.

"We see the G20 as fundamental not just to our international economic agenda, but to our ability to have a lasting recovery at home, because fostering balanced, global growth is essential to fostering growth here in the American economy," Ben Rhodes, US deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, told a briefing ahead of the G20 summit to be held in Seoul next week.

"We've shifted the focus of our international economic cooperation from the G8 to the G20. There's really not an area of attention on the international stage that's gotten the kind of focus that we've applied to our efforts through the G20 to avert an economic catastrophe and to promote balance in global growth," he said.

"The G20 is now considered the premier forum for international economic cooperation and includes the largest emerging and developed country economies, plus the attendance of various international organizations and regional organizations, and it deals with a whole broad range of issues," said Michael Froman, deputy national security advisor for international economic affairs, at the briefing.