S Africa to focus on growth, fair trade at G20

MEXICO CITY - South Africa remains committed to seeking growth and fair trade between developed and developing nations through the G20 meetings, South Africa's ambassador to Mexico told Xinhua in an interview Monday.

The G20's lifetime coincides with a long period of economic crises, starting with the US real estate crisis, which pulled down economies across the globe and set the stage for the current Greek crisis.

"It is not a matter of whether the G20 has found the formula for long-term growth. Remember, the challenge that is currently facing all of us now is how to stimulate growth at home," Ambassador Mphakama Mbete said.

The ambassador said that South Africa supports the current anti-crisis measures taken by Europe, which largely target government spending.

"They have identified and adopted measures to resolve the peril. These include strengthening of the firewall and the provision of liquidity to banks. At this stage, like most regions, Europe may be expected to work towards deficit reduction and the strengthening of growth measures," he said.

While the world is struggling with the economic crisis, South African officials remain committed to defending the world's low-income citizens.

"We also need to find ways to reduce the impact of adverse commodity developments on the poor," Mbete said. "The G20 is working on a number of initiatives that include improving humanitarian responses to food crises across the globe and finding ways to improve agricultural productivity."

While boosting production, South Africa also advocates making markets more transparent to offset price disasters like those seen in 2008, which were driven by traders' fears, not by food production conditions.

Spiking prices led to civil conflict in 22 low-income nations, as well as export bans in food-producing countries. The G20 responded to this by launching the Agriculture Market Information System (AMIS), which is run by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and backed by a wide range of international bodies.

"What is required is a broad range of policy options. We need to improve the functioning of markets through initiatives like the Joint Organizations Data Initiative," Mbete said.

"What is important is to make sure there is predictability in the market and there is certainty and transparency which will enable us to see which direction the market is going and thus avoid likely volatility," he said.

Mbete also said that policies that could hurt trade partners need to be addressed by joint efforts through forums like the G20.