American President, George W. Bush, invited his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to participate in a summit of the world's leading economies to discuss the global financial crisis, a White House source said on Tuesday.
Bush told Lula, who accepted the invitation, that the summit would likely take place in mid-November but there was no defined venue yet, according to the aide. One of the objectives of the summit was to discuss measures that could reduce the impact of the crisis on the real economy, the aide said.
Brazil currently presides over the G20 group of the world's leading economies. The disclosure comes amid growing signals of a final concerted effort on world trade.
In Washington, President Bush vowed to press hard for a successful conclusion of the seven year Doha round of world trade talks during his last few months in office.
"The recent impasse in the Doha Round of trade talks is disappointing, but that doesn't have to be the final word. And so before I leave office I'm going to press hard to make sure we have a successful Doha round," Bush said at a White House summit on international development.
But analysts believe it is difficult for negotiators to finish every detail of a new world trade agreement before Bush leaves the White House on January 20. However, US officials have said it was still possible to reach a deal in 2008 on key agricultural, manufacturing and services trade issues at the heart of the round.
Bush said it was important countries not worsen the global financial crisis by closing their markets to imports. "In the midst of this crisis, I believe the world ought to send a clear signal that we remain committed to open markets by reducing barriers to trade across the globe" he said.
On Monday Brazil's Lula Silva in his weekly radio address, after returning from a trip to Spain and India where he discussed the global financial crisis and trade talks with Prime Ministers Jose Luiz Zapatero of Spain and Manmohan Singh of India used similar arguments.
"During this moment of international crisis it's important to conclude the Doha accord so we can show the world something positive, something to restore optimism in humanity," Lula said. "I came back from India more confident," he told reporters.
"I feel there are great possibilities to conclude the Doha round after the US elections," stated Lula.
Disagreement between India and the United States over safeguards in farm trade was one of the main reasons that talks collapsed in July. Some US authorities also said this month they think a breakthrough is still possible this year.
Mercopress
