Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan are in Canada for the G20 summit that will look at the state of the world's economic affairs.
The two-day summit, which officially starts on Saturday, brings together the world's most advanced economies like Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United States, Russia and the United Kingdom. The summit is expected to focus on building a healthier, stronger and more sustainable global economy.
Zuma will deliver a keynote address to G20 business leaders, under the theme 'Partnering with Africa's Dynamic Markets".
The Presidency said Zuma would also use the platform to call for continued support for Africa as it weathers the recent economic downturn.
He will also urge business leaders to take advantage of the available trade and investment opportunities in Africa.
Leading economists worldwide have so far commended G20 leaders for their efforts to act together with strong and timely stimulus measures and avoid the protectionism that led the stock market to crash in 1929 and plunged the world into the Great Depression.
However, in a media briefing on Wednesday Gordhan said the new challenges facing the G20 was how they can get the world growing at a faster rate so that there is development and job creation as well.
He said the meeting would have to also resolve the sovereign, fiscal crisis and uncertainties that are faced by certain parts of the world. It will also have to deal with financial market volatility following the fiscal crisis.
"One of the challenges we'll have to resolve at the G20 is how do we balance these two factors. How do we balance the necessity for fiscal consolidation in a growth friendly way?" asked the minister. He added that it was clear that the world's economic recovery will be uneven for some time.
"In discussing a second area which will be the framework for strong sustainable and balanced growth leaders will have to take on board growth dynamics and upside and downward factors," said the minister.
The G20 includes 19 countries - Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union.
Collectively these economies account for more than 85 percent of global gross national product, more than 80 of world trade (including trade within the EU) and two-thirds of the world population.
