United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (right) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio during a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 leaders’ summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 21.
Speaking at a press conference in Hiroshima (Japan) on May 21, Guterres said that both the United Nations Security Council and the Bretton Woods agreement reflect the power relations of 1945 and need to be updated.
“The global financial structure is outdated, dysfunctional and unfair. In the face of economic shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, it has failed to be complete in its primary function as a global safety net,” Guterres emphasized in Hiroshima, where the G7 Summit was held.
The current world financial – monetary system was formed in 1944, after a meeting of 730 delegates from 44 countries in the city of Bretton Woods (New Hampshire, USA) to build a world financial system. recurrence of the economic crisis.
Here, countries agreed to establish a financial system called Bretton Woods – including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and a fixed exchange rate regime established by the World Bank, built around the dollar pegged to gold. .
However, in the last 10 years, the Bretton Woods system was considered to be very outdated and no longer suitable for the deep globalization trend and the changing geopolitical-economic balance.
What will be the structure of the world financial system after the crisis is a big question.
In addition, Security Council reform is also called for by many countries, including Vietnam. On November 17, 2022, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang – Chief Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations – called for Security Council reform to help it better respond to global challenges.
Recently, China has also talked about reforming the Security Council. Beijing suggested that the Security Council give more weight to small states.
At the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly last year, foreign ministers from the “Diamond Quartet” group of Japan, the United States, Australia and India pledged to promote reform of the United Nations, including: content to increase the number of permanent members of the Security Council.
