G20 leaders agree on commitment to decisive actions for growth

G20 leaders on Friday reaffirmed their continued and full commitment to taking decisive actions to return to a job-rich, strong, sustainable and balanced growth path. The commitment was made in a joint declaration issued soon after their two-day summit in this Russian city. "Strengthening growth and creating jobs is our top priority and we are fully committed to taking decisive actions to return to a job-rich, strong, sustainable and balanced growth path," said the declaration. The G20 leaders have reviewed the past five years since they first met for a G20 summit of heads of state and government. "Coordinated action by the G20 has been critical to tackling the financial crisis and putting the world economy on a path to recovery," they said in their joint declaration. As the first BRICS member state to host the G20 Leaders Summit, Russia has stressed growth through quality jobs and investment, growth through trust and transparency and growth through effective regulation. On the Russian initiative, G20's outreach opinion groups have proposed a growth through inclusiveness. The leaders who gathered in St. Petersburg for the past two days agreed that their group's most urgent need is to increase the momentum of the global recovery, to generate higher growth and better jobs while strengthening the foundations for long-term development and avoiding policies that could cause the recovery to falter or to promote growth at other countries' expenses. This commitment actually incorporated the appeal of such opinion groups as the Business 20, Civil Society 20, Labor 20, Think Tank 20 and Youth 20 for inclusiveness in development. Russian President Vladimir Putin said before the summit that the Russian presidency would like to push for a growth for all citizens. The St. Petersburg declaration has engaged leaders to base sound and sustainable economic growth on increased and predictable investments, trust and transparency, and effective regulation. "As leaders of the world's largest economies, we share responsibility for reinforcing the open and rules-based global economic system," the G20 said in the document. "We are committed to working cooperatively to address key global economic challenges." Putin is expected to brief the press about the St. Petersburg summit later on Friday.