On Friday, I will be attending the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in Washington DC. These meetings mark another significant opportunity for Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from all member countries of the IMF and World Bank to come together to tackle the issues confronting the global economy.
Global economic engagement is as important to our recovery as it was to beating the global recession itself. The meetings provide a timely forum to take the temperature of the world's economic progress, and to assess Australia's own performance in relation to our peers.
Despite a patchy global recovery, Australia is enjoying very different economic outcomes chiefly because we took timely and targeted action as the crisis hit and had the foresight to plan for our recovery at the same time. The success of our economic policies leaves us in an enviable position by world standards, with stronger growth and job creation than most other advanced economies.
The Australian economic story is one of confidence but not complacency. We learned during the global financial crisis that we are not immune from international turbulence, and it is in Australia's best interests to support our peers to build momentum towards their own sustainable recoveries.
A direct focus of our meetings will be to ensure that reforms are implemented across member economies that will deliver the sort of strong, sustainable economic growth we all want to see. Australia will also continue to support reforms to the IMF to ensure that it reflects the changing nature of the global economy and it has the capacity to support countries when they need it.
In addition to meetings with my fellow G20 Finance Ministers, including Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Indian Finance Minister Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, I also look forward to meeting with the New Zealand Finance Minister, Bill English, and to attending the Commonwealth Finance Ministers' Meeting. In these discussions, I look forward to highlighting the strengths of Australia's well-regulated financial system and I will also outline to friends from abroad our ambitious domestic reform agenda.
At the conclusion of these meetings I will travel to New York on 11 and 12 October to discuss with market representatives, including the CEO of Morgan Stanley Mr James Gorman and senior executives from the New York Federal Reserve, developments in the US financial sector. This leg of the trip will also be used to promote the stability and strength of the Australian financial system and the broader Australian economy to investors.