Following last week's G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, the US, Singapore's foreign minister George Yeo said here Monday that for an effective G20 process, there must be a greater representation of smaller states.

"A balance has to be struck between effectiveness and inclusiveness," he said in his address to the UN General Assembly in the annual general debate.

"As most members of the UN are not in the G20, it is important for us to have a say on the role the G20 should play as an agent of change in global governance," he said.

"In a sense, the greatest challenge confronting us today is that of effective global governance," he said.

Pushing to ensure that the interests of small states are well heard amongst the bigger voices, Yeo cited "a great power shift," where last week's G20 meeting "marks a new beginning."

"It would be a mistake to think that the global economic crisis will soon be over," he warned as he outlined the crisis as the result of "excesses and imbalances."

"However, like steroids administered to reduce inflammation, there is a price to be paid for the temporary relief," he said.

Power also commended the actions taken last year by world leaders "in response to the financial tsunami" which "have brought us precious time to restructure and re-balance the global economy," he said.

"If the biggest economies do not persist in this effort, and persisting means pain for domestic constituencies in many countries, the respite we are now enjoying will lead to an even bigger crisis, this time possibly involving foreign exchange markets as well," Yeo said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2009)