US President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy have agreed to work aggressively to sustain the global economic recovery and create job opportunities.
"We agreed to continue working aggressively to sustain the global economic recovery and create jobs for our people. This includes, as we agreed with our G20 partners at Pittsburgh, to replace the old cycle of bubble and bust with growth that is balanced and sustained," Obama said at a joint press conference with Sarkozy at the White House.
Obama called for coordination from all nations to help sustaining economic recovery and also updated Sarkozy on his efforts to pass financial reform legislation, hoping that the Senate would take action to make sure they "never repeat the mistakes that led to this crisis".
"We must provide sufficient oversight so that reckless speculation or reckless risk-taking by a few big players in the financial markets will never again threaten the global economy or burden taxpayers.
"We must assure that consumers of financial products have the information and safeguards that they need, so their life savings are not placed in needless jeopardy... That's why I press for the passage of these reforms through Congress when they return," he said.
Sarkozy appreciated the US efforts for financial regulation and said "it's great news for the world to hear the United States is availing itself of rules, adopting rules so that we not go back to what we have already experienced."
Obama vowed to continue working with his French counterpart and other global leaders in a coordinated manner to make make sure that whatever steps have been taken "are occurring on both sides of the Atlantic".
Both the leaders agreed to reject protectionism. "We agreed that sustained and balanced growth includes rejecting protectionism," Obama said.
He also acknowledged France as one of the US' largest trading partners and called for expanding "global commerce, not constrain it".
"With that regard, we think it's important that Doha trade negotiations move forward this year, and we need all interested parties to push for a more ambitious and balanced agreement that opens global markets," Obama said.
The issue of climate change also featured in the talks and the two leaders agreed that all nations aligned with the Copenhagen accord must meet their responsibilities.
"I would note that President Sarkozy's leadership has resulted in significant new resources to address deforestation around the world."
Obama viewed upcoming meetings at the UN and the Major Economies Forum as an opportunity for countries to "to follow up their Copenhagen commitments with specific and concrete actions that reduce emissions."
