Leaders of the world's largest economies are gearing up for two days of meetings in the US city of Pittsburgh, with an exhaustive agenda - from addressing trade imbalances to preventing future financial meltdowns to debating bankers' bonuses - as thousands of police hit the pavement.

The Group of 20 summit is the first to be hosted by President Barack Obama, who chose Pittsburgh as the venue. And it seems a fitting backdrop for an event that aims to find a new way forward for the global economy. Once a smog-covered, "Steel City", Pittsburgh has transformed itself into a model for sustainable growth. The David L. Lawrence Convention Center where leaders will meet has been certified "green."

Security at the summit

With protest groups pledging to march on summit grounds, Pittsburgh has cranked up security, calling in the National Guard to monitor a ring of concrete road blocks around the site, and shutting down some downtown schools and businesses as a safety precaution.

Protest organizers told the AFP news agency they feared a violent showdown with the police.

"The city has bought a thousand canisters of tear gas. That's something people are concerned about, like what to do if they're gassed," said Noah Williams, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project.

However, Tim Huschak, a bicycle-riding police officer who was recruited from another town, said their goal was to protect everyone, "including the civil protesters".

"We're planning for the worst and hoping for the best. If you go on YouTube you can see what they did in London and Seattle at events like this," he said.

G-20 summit agenda

How to move forward with an economic recovery will be at the top of the Group of 20 leaders' agenda.

The US is proposing to rebalance the global economy by boosting domestic consumption in emerging economies, such as China and India - which would lower their trade surpluses - and by urging debt-ridden nations like the US and some of the members of the EU to save more.

Before boarding the plane to Pittsburgh on Thursday, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for tighter regulation of financial markets.

"We have to make sure we learn the lessons of the crisis and make sure it is not repeated," Merkel told reporters in Berlin before her departure. "Politicians must have the courage to do things which are not immediately popular," she added.

Also expected to be debated are the issues of bankers' bonuses, unemployment, climate change, and economic stimulus packages.

On Thursday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the world leaders will institutionalize the G-20 as the world's main economic governing council.

vj/Reuters/dpa/AFP/AP
Editor: Michael Lawton