Thank you Minister Malmstrom & Commissioner Almunia for your comments, particularly with respect to the Pittsburgh G20 representatives needing to agree to significant co-ordination in their continued support of stimulus measures, co-ordination in the unwinding of these support measures when appropriate and the need for a determined co-ordinated effort on future regulation.
The backdrop to this G20 summit is that nations are spending trillions of dollars on bail-outs and stimulus packages, two of the largest world economies are falling out over protectionist measures on tyres and poultry, as well as two of the most complicated regulatory structures in the world, namely the EU and USA, looking to completely overhaul their financial systems.
Therefore I hope that the important issues of how to co-ordinate financial services, particularly now that some countries are showing early signs of coming out of this period of negative growth, will be the main topic of discussion next week and not the distraction of controlling bankers' bonuses.
This summit should focus on how we achieve a common regulatory framework in a common timescale so that we do not create an opportunity for competitive advantage by individual nations or regulatory arbitrage opportunities for speculative trading.
There will be no first mover advantage in financial regulation.
A global co-ordinated approach is the only one which will benefit the businesses looking to raise funds in Wales, the EU and beyond.
If my Welsh businesses cannot access venture capital funds from the US, if the domestic banks they rely on cannot lend because they will require so much capital that the taxpayers of the EU need to take even more of the burden and risk, then we will not be thanked for moving first on overly burdensome regulation.
My plea is that in Pittsburgh, a global & co-ordinated approach is adopted and maintained to ensure future access to capital funds for our businesses in Wales and the rest of the EU. We need to ensure that our businesses, particularly our SMEs can contribute to the economic recovery of our nations.