President Lee Myung-bak is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech this morning (U.S. Eastern Standard Time) at the meeting of the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy in Washington D.C. He is expected to propose to the participating leaders from G-20 nations to join in on a  join a “Stand-Still Declaration,” which is intended to prevent creation of trade or investment barriers. The G-20 financial summit is aims to formulate ways to tackle the global financial crisis.

The declaration will point out that the fears of protectionism which is likely to spread owing to recent economic difficulties and how the newly emerging economies are to bear the brunt of the resulting damage.

The President will also urge the G-20 nations to take the initiative in efforts to promptly conclude the stalled Doha Development Agenda negotiations of the World Trade Organization. This is especially important in light of the fact that the entire world is now facing the most severe financial crisis and recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Highlighting the importance of expanding the foreign currency liquidity of newly emerging economies, President Lee is anticipated to call on the major advanced countries to step up efforts to conclude more currency swap agreements with emerging economies.

In suggesting ways to strengthen the function of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), President Lee will also insist that it is imperative to raise more IMF funds in a bid to benefit the newly emerging countries that are in need of foreign currency liquidity.

President Lee will introduce Korea’s experiences in the financial crisis that the nation a decade ago. He is going to urge the international participants to cooperate closely in taking necessary measures in a preemptive, decisive and sufficient manner to weather the crisis.

As such, President Lee will speak forcefully on the international stage about the difficulties of the emerging economies. By doing so, the President will help strengthen the standing of the Republic as a coordinator between the advanced nations and emerging economies in financial realms, the Presidential Spokesperson Lee Dong-kwan said.

The G-20 summit, which focuses on ways to improve the global financial system, has adopted the promotion of the transparency and accountability of financial institutions as one of the main topics on the agenda.

The heads of 20 leading nations, including President Lee Myung-bak, attended the summit, along with IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Chairman of the Financial Stability Forum Mario Draghi.

After the summit, President Lee will make visits to Brazil and Peru to conduct energy cooperation diplomacy. The President will attend the 16th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting to be held in Lima, Peru, from November 22nd to November 23rd.