Indonesia Optimistic about G20 Achievements

BPMI SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Indonesian presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20), a multinational forum of 20 countries with the world's largest economies, is facing the tough challenge of developments never encountered in the previous leadership. While the world has yet to fully recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, an armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine flared up, followed by regional tension over Taiwan. The geopolitical situation has added to the gravity of the global crisis.

"The process of peace talks over the Russia and Ukraine conflict has yet to be completed, now there is tension in the Taiwan Strait that we must monitor and manage so that it does not escalate," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said during a special interview in Jakarta on Friday (12/8/2022). She was accompanied by ministerial staffer and G20 co-Sherpa Dian Triansyah Djani.

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In the midst of the escalation in global competition, Retno said, the G20 had emerged be a strong global platform for cooperation on various issues, with many non-G20 countries seeking engagement with the forum.

Until now, many heads of state have contacted Indonesia.

"Indonesia's presidency has been running for nine months. Until now, many heads of state have contacted Indonesia. They say [that] if they can't be invited to join the main session of the G20 summit in November, they want at least to be involved in side events or dinner events," Retno said.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Dancers perform a welcome dance at the opening of the G20 Indonesia Presidency at Banteng Field Park, Jakarta, Wednesday (1/12/2021).

She said the G20 had attracted many other countries, given the fact that the forum had focused on developing countries. The G20 membership includes the seven most industrialized countries in the world (G7), but the decision-making process involves all members based on consensus, which had highlighted the significant roles shared by developing countries. The policies issued by the G20, Retno said, were more grounded in the interest of developing and poor countries.

Indonesia's role

The G20 is basically an economic and financial development forum. Political issues apart, regional and global geopolitics has become the forum’s concerns, given their influence on economic development.

Indonesia is challenged to steer the organization as an ark in negotiating various obstacles in order to reach its goals. The 2022 presidency envisions restoring the global health infrastructure, shifting to new and renewable energy, and digital transformation. Food security has become an addition to the work agenda, given the impact of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

"Indonesia is optimistic that apart from the differences in political views, we can bring them all to work together," Retno said.

Tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, she said, had brought together countries regardless of their political ideologies to continue to work under the mutually beneficial platform. The development of vaccines and medicines, establishing research programs, as well as efforts to recover the global economy had been initiated through multilateral cooperation.

The latest Meeting Of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) had drawn up a 14- paragraph document.

The FMCBG meeting also agreed to establishing a financial intermediary fund of US$1.3 billion as part of a mitigation package over future pandemic risks.

The first two paragraphs reflect the dynamics of global politics, with the pros and cons among G20 members. The remaining 12 paragraphs contain their pledges to meeting the work targets. The FMCBG meeting also agreed to establishing a financial intermediary fund of US$1.3 billion as part of a mitigation package over future pandemic risks.

Triansyah said the G20’s progress also weighed on its derivative sectors, the youth leaders forum (Y20) and the gender equality and women’s economic empowerment forum (W20), the work programs of which had resulted in the implementation of various agreements. He added that cooperation between digital actors from G20 states and a number of partner countries and organizations had been going on for a long time.

“We knit everything so that all becomes comprehensive and cohesive,” Triansyah said, adding that the G20’s core was how the forum would transform its policies into practice at the grassroots level.

AFP/MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Indonesia's President Joko Widodo at the Kremlin in Moscow on June 30, 2022.

Regarding the invitation for Ukraine to attend the G20 Bali Summit, Retno said that Indonesia had opened as extensive a room for dialogue as possible. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's visits to Ukraine and Russia last month went as smoothly as expected, with his reception by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Jokowi was the first Asian and president of a developing country to tour both countries since the war broke out.

Retno attributed Jokowi’s successful tour of the two countries to Indonesia's longstanding foreign policy since its 1945 independence. Indonesia had always positioned itself as a global player that never sided with certain proxies or sought to impose its political stance on other countries. This had made Indonesia trusted and accepted, she said.

That message of peace, she said, was behind the invitation for Ukraine to the G20 summit, while Indonesia had also continued to resist to the call to exclude Russia from the event.

The road to peace talks over the Russia-Ukraine war was still steep. Jokowi, Retno said, was aware of the problems faced by the two parties and that Indonesia would continue its efforts to invite them to sit together. That message of peace, she said, was behind the invitation for Ukraine to the G20 summit, while Indonesia had also continued to resist to the call to exclude Russia from the event.

"Another important thing is to expedite the release of wheat and fertilizer [exports] from Ukraine and Russia. Otherwise, [the blockade] will threaten world food security," she said.

The United Nations has warned that countries in Africa and the Middle East are facing a food crisis due to the scarcity of wheat, the regions’ staple food. Coupled with the fear over a fertilizer shortage, rice harvests are expected to experience a significant drop, which will subsequently affect 2 billion people on Earth. That would be a grave disaster, considering that many countries are already under the threat of crop failure due to the climate crisis.

(This article was translated by Musthofid)