São Paulo – Parliament leaders of several countries are going to meet, starting on Friday (24), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the 3rd G-20 Speakers’ Consultation Meeting, to bring together speakers from the main economies in the world. Brazil will be represented by the president of the Lower House, Marco Maia.
The meeting, which ends on Sunday, should cover three main themes: global dialogue of cultures, energy and sustainable development and the financial crisis and its impact on the world economy. According to Saudi newspaper Arab News, parliamentary cooperation for peace and safety and assistance to impoverished nations will also be themes of the meeting. Late last week, there was a meeting between ministers of Foreign Relations of the G20, in Mexico.
According to a spokesperson for the Lower House of Brazil, participation by Maia should be focussed on economic matters. He should discuss the European crisis and the greater importance of emerging nations as a powerhouse for global growth.
The congressman from Rio Grande do Sul plans to show how Brazil has been resisting to international financial turbulence since 2008. "The policy of real increases of the minimum wage and the transfer of productivity gains to wages has increased the consumer capacity of the middle class,” said the speaker, in a press statement disclosed by the Lower House.
"This way, the [Brazilian] growth was sustained by a greater domestic market, generating a virtuous circle that made it possible for the country to escape the negative effects of the financial crisis of the rich nations without threatening macroeconomic stability,” added Maia.
He should point out that the anti-crisis measures adopted by the government of Brazil were approved by the National Congress, that is, “they were not autocratically imposed by the Executive.” According to Maia, such measures "resulted from debates that involved the several political forces with their economic positions.”
Maia’s participation in the conference was informed by the minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Fernando Pimentel, to Saudi authorities during meetings last Saturday, in Riyadh. Pimentel headed a Brazilian delegation to the Middle East last week.
*Translated by Mark Ament
