The world’s most industrialised nations opened their annual meeting in St Petersburg, Russia on September 5, 2013.

World leaders from the G 20 group of nations began a two-day meeting in Russia yesterday, September 5, 2013, amid sharp differences over military action against Syria's government for allegedly using chemical weapons against civilians, BBC reported.

Ahead of the talks, Russia's President, Vladimir Putin warned that action without UN approval would be "an aggression" but US President, President Barack Obama, said the credibility of the international community was on the line. While the Syrian crisis is not officially on the G 20 agenda, leaders are expected to discuss it on the sidelines. The crisis is one of a growing number of issues putting Washington at odds with Moscow.

According to President Putin, the summit will focus on the world economy and economic problems such as slow economic growth, unemployment, corruption, tax crimes and management. The G 20, which accounts for 90 per cent of the world's economic output, hopes to reach agreement on growth, trade, banking transparency and fighting tax evasion, Reuters news agency reported. It is the first time a member of the rising BRICS group of nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – is hosting the G 20 summit.

There have been calls for countries to rewrite their tax laws because existing rules allow companies to underpay taxes owed to African countries, the Special Broadcasting Service, SBS said. The charity, Oxfam, says African countries lose almost two per cent of their Gross Domestic Product each year because of the practice. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, is also seeking stronger action against tax cheats, urging countries to agree on automatic exchange of banking data.