KEY POINTS:
Finance Minister Michael Cullen has revealed he is set to speak with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later this morning ahead of a meeting of the world's most powerful economies to discuss the financial crisis.
Speaking at the Herald's Mood of the Boardroom breakfast this morning, Dr Cullen said he would be talking with Dr Rice as the US "reached out" to friends who were not part of the Group of 20 countries.
The G20 is set to meet in about two weeks to look at ways of solving the global crisis.
"It's their initiative," Dr Cullen told the Herald after the breakfast, when asked about the phone call.
"Clearly the administration, I think particularly the Secretary of State is concerned, that given the international environment if it's just seen as a G20 club where does that leave the US's other friends who are not part of the G20?"
Dr Cullen said a lot of work had gone into improving the country's relationship with the US in recent years and things were going well.
"So she just wants to have a bit of a call, and tell us what their ambitions are for the meeting, and I just want to say well there's a few things here that we'd like to just have put on the agenda."
Dr Cullen said he would emphasise to Dr Rice that while there was a focus on the short-term, long-term arrangements also needed to be thought about.
The current short-term arrangements to combat the crisis were fraught with dangers and would become difficult to sustain over the long-term, Dr Cullen suggested.
"Also the need, I think, for greater international cooperation around prudential regulation," he said.
"Just how do we get that better cooperation and maybe better alignment between prudential regulation around the world."
The members of the G20 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
