LONDON, United Kingdom -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday the credit crisis had created a "moment of change" that allowed world powers to rebuild the financial system but also to refashion the way they work together.
Ahead of a meeting of the Group of 20 nations (G20), Brown repeated his call for reform of the global financial system and said the coordinated action on interest rates and ailing banks showed the potential of wider multilateralism.
This year should not be remembered simply for the failure represented by the crisis but for the way countries reacted, how "we discovered and refashioned the global power of nations working together."
"While I see a world that is facing financial crisis and still diminished by conflict and injustice, I also see the chance to forge a new multilateralism that is both hard headed and progressive," Brown said, according to pre-released extracts of a speech he will make Monday evening.
"And if we learn from our experience of turning unity of purpose into unity of action, we can together seize this moment of change in our world to create a truly global society."
Leaders of the G20, which includes the seven leading economies and key developing ones, will meet at a summit November 15 in Washington.
Brown said the group "must use the power of multilateralism to establish a global consensus on a new, decisive and systemic approach to strengthening the global economy."
It must ensure banks begin lending to families and businesses again, improve coordination of fiscal and monetary policy, act to stop smaller economies being submerged by the crisis and reach a global trade deal, he said.
And it must develop a new financial system "based on the principles of transparency, integrity, responsibility, sound banking practice and global governance with co-ordination across borders."
This would deliver "an early warning system and a crisis prevention mechanism for the whole world," the prime minister said.