HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the Gulf [November 2008]

The press release issued by Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, on 1 November 2008.

The PM has begun his four-day visit to the Gulf with a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with King Abdullah. The PM is visiting the region to discuss economic, energy and business issues and to seek support for boosting the IMF’s credit crunch contingency fund.

Speaking to journalists before departing Heathrow on Saturday morning, Mr Brown said that all nations had to play their part in solving the world economic downturn.

Earlier this week he said that the $250 billion set aside by the International Monetary Fund to help nations struggling with the current global financial crisis may not be enough, and that countries that had built up large reserves should contribute more.

The PM said:

“My main focus is on how we can help British families through this downturn but because they are global problems they require global solutions.

“The Saudis and other countries in the Gulf States are very important, they are the countries with great revenues and oil wealth. What starts with negotiations in Saudi and elsewhere can end with great benefits for families in Britain. Everybody has got a part to play in solving the world downturn.”

The PM will also attend a special EU Council next week on the financial crisis before heading to the global summit to be held in the US on 15 November.