Thaindian News

Rome, Nov 12 (IANS) Brazil and Italy have said they would propose creation of an economic system that would lay more stress on production than speculation during the upcoming financial summit in Washington, EFE reported Wednesday.Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Tuesday told a press conference here that they would cooperate at this weekend’s financial meeting of the Group of 20 industrialised nations and emerging markets like India, China and Brazil.

The Brazilian president, who is here on a state visit, said he was “optimistic” about the summit, but cautioned there is not going to be overnight solutions to the problems.

“The meeting will mean the beginning of a long road,” he said.

Berlusconi said he will ask the participants to create “responsible controls over the banks that prevent them from striking deals 20 times bigger than their financial capacity.”

Lula and Berlusconi also emphasized the good bilateral relations their countries enjoy and their annual two-way trade worth more than $8 billion.

During Lula’s current visit, Brazil and Italy have signed six agreements of cooperation in various fields, including trade.

At the start of their appearance before the journalists, Berlusconi revealed that he had surprised Lula by bringing to their luncheon five Brazilian players from the AC Milan soccer club.

The players - Ronaldinho, Pato, Kaka, Emerson and Dida - sat through the press conference, as did fellow Brazilian Leonardo, a former player who is now an official with AC Milan.