1. Globalization has, over the last decades, contributed to poverty reduction, job creation, and more broadly, economic take-off and convergence of an increasing number of developing countries. These countries, in particular fast growing emerging markets, have the potential to become new poles of global growth and development. During the same period, however, many countries have not kept pace: in the last 40 years of the 20th century, the gap between the average income of the richest 20 countries and of the poorest 20 countries doubled in size, with the wealthiest group reaching a level more than 30 times that of the poorest1, leading to an unsustainable path of growing global inequalities, as well as concerns about the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
2. With the Pittsburgh framework and the Seoul Development Consensus, the G20 recognizes that development and global economic issues cannot be tackled separately: development is crucial for global economic growth, poverty reduction and employment creation. The development agenda of the G20 with its commitment to narrow the development gap, reduce poverty and promote shared growth2, is therefore an essential component for a strong, sustainable and balanced growth. At the same time, the G20’s action to strengthen global economic governance and financial regulation impacts directly on developing countries, including Low Income Countries (LICs).
3. The Seoul Development Consensus sets out our commitment to work in partnership with other developing countries, and LICs in particular, to help them tackle the bottlenecks to a stronger and more equitable, sustainable and resilient growth. We decided in Seoul to pool our efforts and our diverse approaches: the Multi-Year Action Plan (MYAP) of the G20 embodies this commitment. We have started implementing the MYAP by taking both individual and collective actions along two avenues: setting the foundations for strong and balanced growth and building resilience. The G20 development agenda is not a substitute for existing commitments on development, especially the United Nations Millennium Declaration.