G-20 summit opens in Australia; growth tops agenda

Source: AP-EXCITE

By KRISTEN GELINEAU

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Australia's prime minister vowed that world leaders would deliver on an initiative to add $2 trillion to global GDP, promising freer trade and more investment in infrastructure as heads of the 20 largest economies began cementing plans to drag sagging growth out of the doldrums.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who has repeatedly promised this year's Group of 20 gathering in the Australian city of Brisbane would be more than a talkfest, said the growth plans would add millions of jobs and boost global GDP by "more than 2 percent" above expected levels over the next five years.

"That is millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in extra production," Abbott said as he officially opened the two-day G-20 conference. "Yes, we want freer trade and we will deliver it. Yes, we need more infrastructure and we will build it."

"This is our message to the world: that governments can deliver, that governments can agree that the world can be better, that there can be higher jobs, higher growth and more jobs," he added.

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island dancers perform at the Welcome to Country ceremony at the G-20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)


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