Hot News

The eyes of the world will be on Pittsburgh in September when the city hosts the G-20 Global Economic Summit. At the Pittsburgh Summit, President Obama will meet with world leaders representing 85 percent of the global economy to discuss further actions to assure a sound and sustainable recovery from the global economic and financial crisis.

When the White House announced in May that Pittsburgh would be the site of this important meeting, reporters asked, “Why Pittsburgh?” The reason, according to the White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, was that Pittsburgh is a model for economic and environmental transformation. The city has reinvented itself by building a balanced, innovation-driven economy based on its strengths in advanced manufacturing, digital technologies, financial services, life sciences and energy solutions.

Pittsburgh has a long history of demonstrating a commitment to employing “green” technology to further economic recovery and development. The Summit will be held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the world’s first and largest green convention center—the facility earned LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for leadership in energy and environmental design. 

Downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District sets the perfect stage for this international summit on economic recovery standing as a unique international model of urban revitalization. The Cultural District, once a blighted part of downtown, now includes six theaters, numerous galleries, scores of eateries and has spurred the development of downtown, the North Shore, and the riverfronts. "I've been struck by how many beautiful places there are in the country that you don't necessarily think of as beautiful. Pittsburgh, for example, is a really handsome town with the rivers and the hills,” said President Barack Obama recently.

Opening in September 2003, the $375 million,SMG-managed David L Lawrence Convention Center features 1.5 Million of total Building Square Footage, including 313¸400 square feet of Exhibit Space, 51 Meeting Rooms and a pair of 250-seat Lecture Halls.

The Group of Twenty (G-20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was established in 1999 to bring together industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy. The G-20 is made up of the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States of America. The European Union, who is represented by the rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank, is the 20th member of the G-20.