I am pleased to announce that Canberra will host a G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies' meeting in 2014.
The G20 brings together Leaders, Finance Ministers, Central Bank Governors and senior officials from major developing and advanced economies to address critical economic and financial challenges facing the world.
The G20 Finance stream is made up of meetings of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, supported by meetings of deputies and senior officials, which drive the economic and financial reform agenda of the G20 and play a key role preparing for the Leaders' Summit in Brisbane.
The deputies meeting in Canberra will be the first meeting in the Finance stream in 2014 and will come together to take stock of the global economy and help outline the G20 finance stream's priorities for 2014.
This deputies meeting's work will feed into the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' meetings to be held in Sydney and Cairns in 2014.
The meeting will attract some 400 delegates to Canberra and is another opportunity to showcase the ACT to an international audience.
It is fitting that our nation's capital is the backdrop for this important event which will help shape the agenda in this pivotal year for Australia as the G20 host nation.
As the home of the Australian Parliament and the hub of the Australian public service, Canberra will be at the centre of Australia's preparations for hosting the G20 in 2014.
Canberra will not only host this important meeting in 2014, but will also play a critical role in the lead up to Australia's host year. The PM's G20 taskforce is currently based in Canberra and the Finance stream of meetings will be run from the Treasury department in Canberra.
As chair of the G20 in 2014, Australia has a unique opportunity to shape a global economic agenda that promotes Australia's values and to further strengthen our strong engagement with the world's major economies.
Members of the G20 account for 85 per cent of global GDP, 80 per cent of global trade and most of Australia's major trading and investment partners.