Should the Group of G20 Summit wrap up without a communique, it is hoped that the various agreements made at the technical level of cooperation will be formalized later.
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DEONISIA ARLINTA, AGNES THEODORA,
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KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (right) welcomed the arrival of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who attended the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Nusa Dua, Badung, Bali, Friday (8/7/2022).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Global geopolitical tensions overshadow the possibility of reaching a consensus at the Group of 20 Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali. However, several parties remain optimistic that the forum will yield positive results. Indonesia, as the G20 president this year, will seek common ground to realize concrete programs.
Thus far, after almost a year of maintaining dialogue, G20 stakeholders have made a number of achievements. G20 spokesperson for the Health Ministry Siti Nadia Tarmizi said, when contacted in Jakarta on Sunday (6/11/2022), there are various programs in the health sector that are proposed to be inaugurated at the G20 Summit to be held on 15-16 November. The programs, among others, include the establishment of pandemic funding with a commitment of US$1.4 billion from 20 donors and 3 philanthropists.
Next, the mechanism to use these pandemic funds needs to be formalized. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the distribution of available funds at the global level has been uneven. This is reflected by a gap in accessibility to COVID-19 vaccines. The mechanism used will refer to the equipment access accelerator mechanism for COVID-19 (ACT-A), which has been reviewed and will be continued during India’s G20 presidency next year. This funding was formed to close the gap between countries so that it can be accessible to any country in need. So far, the gap in pandemic preparedness has reached US$10.5 billion.
“We hope that this funding will be established at the end of Indonesia’s G20 presidency and can be operated under a governance structure with strict supervision. Funding is necessary for increasing global capacity in prevention, preparation and response to future pandemics,” said Nadia.
Another proposal is the establishment of a research and manufacturing network for vaccines, drugs and diagnostic tools. At least seven countries agreed to form this network, namely South Africa, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil and India.
According to Nadia, these proposals have been documented in the chair summary. The material will be further explored during the G20 joint finance-health ministers meeting prior to the G20 Summit. “This meeting will further explore the chair summary and encourage contributions from other countries, such as regarding the pandemic fund,” she said.
Economy
Indonesia’s G20 presidency has also yielded positive results in the economic sector. Last Friday, during a meeting in Bogor, Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF) head Febrio Kacaribu said various agreements were made at the technical level of cooperation.
Regarding the food crisis, for one, G20 members collected a total commitment of US$60.5 billion (Rp 944.6 trillion). Funds are intended for food security response programs which will be channeled through global and regional collaboration initiatives through multilateral development banks.
BIRO PERS SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN - MUCHLIS JR
President Joko Widodo chaired a cabinet meeting to finalize various preparations for the G20 Summit at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Monday (3/10/2022).
These initiatives include the Good Security Response program through the World Bank (US$30 billion), the Addressing Good Security program through the Asian Development Bank (ABD) (US$14 billion) and the Food Security Response through the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) (US$5 billion).
“We are collectively building our capacity to prevent a global food crisis, especially in poor and developing countries,” said Febrio.
There is also a debt restructuring assistance initiative for poor countries by continuing the Common Framework for Debt Treatment, which was established during the Italian G20 presidency.
Head of BKF climate change and multilateral financing policy center, Dian Lestari, said that the resolution of several issues that left the implementation of the Common Framework (CF) ineffective has been agreed upon. This includes the establishment of creditors committees for the first three clients of the CF scheme, namely Chad, Ethiopia and Zambia.
The debt restructuring process for these three countries have been slow thus far. This will also be addressed through Indonesia’s presidency. “We encourage certainty for these client countries, with timely completion of the [debt restructuring] process,” said Dian.
In addition to debt restructuring, the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) program was also agreed upon with funds of US$81.6 billion out of the targeted US$100 billion. This program aims to strengthen the global financial safety net, particularly for poor and developing countries. Program funds were mobilized from the quota allocation of developed countries in the Special Drawing rights (SDR) program by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with a total value of US$650 billion.
Mediator
During negotiations, Indonesia attempted to maintain its position as a neutral mediator to lead to a strategic agreement. According to Dian, even without a communique, the chair summary documented strong commitments illustrated at various working groups and ministerial meetings.
“It is [reflected] in the form of a chair summary, but it is still strong,” she said.
According to senior economist at the Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia, Hendri Saparini, Indonesia has managed to chair the G20 in challenging conditions. While countries are still undergoing economic recovery after the pandemic, the world was suddenly plunged into a complicated situation after Russia invaded Ukraine. Global economic recovery has slowed and new crises have emerged, in terms of food, energy and finance.
It is [reflected] in the form of a chair summary, but it is still strong.
In such conditions, Indonesia does not need to set a target that is too ambitious and should not feel that it is a failure if a joint communique is not achieved. The legacy left by Indonesia is concrete actions to help the world recover from the post-pandemic crisis and bridge the interests of vulnerable countries that have been marginalized.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said, last Friday, that in spite of the strong influence of global geopolitical dynamics, the substance of the G20 multilateral forum should not be lost.
