core sector communique

World's Largest Brainstorm Opens at Critical Moment for Global Economy The international community should move quickly to find collaborative approaches to prevent a serious downturn and counter rising protectionism, former British prime minister Gordon Brown warned. The Summit on the Global Agenda 2011, the world’s biggest brainstorm, opens in Abu Dhabi. The Summit aims to identify new models for addressing the most pressing global challenges.    Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 10 October 2011 – Governments, businesses and civil society must work together to address urgent global issues such as the slowdown in the economy if the world is to avoid another major crisis, government leaders warned in the opening session of the World Economic Forum’s Summit on the Global Agenda 2011. “Global cooperation is even more necessary today because we are facing a new but avoidable global downturn,” said former British prime minister Gordon Brown, Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom. “At the moment, there is a precarious balance between those who produce but don’t consume and those who consume but don’t produce.” The international community needs to negotiate a “global growth pact” and guard against rising protectionism, Brown argued.