Calmy-Rey says Switzerland should join G20
Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey says Switzerland should be better integrated into the G20.
In an interview on the Tagesschau television news programme, Calmy-Rey said on Friday evening that Swiss representatives were speaking with other nations about joining the group of 20 of the world’s major economies.
Switzerland is the seventh-largest financial centre in the world but not among the top 20 leading economies. Nevertheless, the foreign minister said it was important for the country to participate in debates that concern it.
Swiss representatives currently sit on a G20 panel of experts but the country is not a member of the group, which has been meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Switzerland welcomed decisions taken at the summit for strengthening the stability of financial markets, the finance ministry said in a statement.
“The financial crisis underlined the need for tighter and more effective regulation of the financial sector. In a globalised world, this regulation has to be coordinated by the international organisations,” said the ministry, adding that Switzerland would like to be more closely integrated in the G20 process.
Pressure from the G20 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development this year forced Switzerland to loosen its banking secrecy laws.
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