Airlangga: Optimistic G20 Will Conclude with Declaration

With the G20 Summit a few days away, many are pessimistic that the leaders’ declaration will be achieved. Yet the Indonesian government opts to stay optimistic.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Kompas conducts an exclusive interview with Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto in his office at Coordinating Economic Ministry, Jakarta, Tuesday (11/8/2022). The interview was about the pinnacle event of the G20 to be held the following week.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Group of 20 Summit is set to take place in less than a week. The hottest issue is still geopolitical tensions, especially between the West and Russia, which is a member of the G20. In spite of this, Indonesia as the host is optimistic the multilateral forum will pave the way for positive achievements in the name of global prosperity.

Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto expressed his optimism that there would be consensus among G20 leaders to end the Bali summit with a declaration. In an exclusive interview with Kompas on Tuesday (11/8/2022) in Jakarta, Airlangga said the involved parties had entered the editorial discussion phase, which included sentence composition and vocabulary selection. Moreover, there had been agreement on substantive matters surrounding concrete commitments from various meetings in the non-financial economic track (sherpa track) and financial-economic track, as well as from working groups involving nongovernmental organizations.

“There is already the text of the declaration by leaders of countries, comprising 37 paragraphs. The text contains five paragraphs corresponding to the financial-economic track. The rest is formulated by parties involved in the non-financial economic track,” Airlangga explained.

Therefore, the current tensions arising from the geopolitical conditions should not hinder the summit from wrapping up with the declaration.

In the negotiation process, Airlangga said, the Indonesian government had emphasized that the editorial declaration was inclusive. Therefore, the current tensions arising from the geopolitical conditions should not hinder the summit from wrapping up with the declaration.

For that reason, Indonesia encourages the use of a more moderate language in the text. For instance, avoiding criticizing certain parties and instead putting more emphasis on accountability.

“This is pivotal moderation so that the G20 will not be dominated by geopolitical interests. The declaration must represent the neutrality of the Indo-Pacific and be in favor of developing countries," Airlangga explained. Representatives from small island countries and the African Union will be present, so the summit shall also pay close attention to their interests.

“Thus, this declaration is crucial, as it is a manifestation of promises committed by all members, which will be the discussion points in the forum. The declaration starts with the introduction. The second and following paragraphs elaborate on various concrete results that have been agreed upon,” Airlangga further explained.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Bus drivers get ready to drive electric-powered buses at the Benoa Harbor terminal in Denpasar, Bali, on Wednesday (11/9/2022). The government is providing 30 medium-sized electric buses and one large electric bus as commuter transportation during G20 Summit.

One of the concrete results is the establishment of a financial intermediary fund (FIF) of US$1.4 billion. This fund is to be used for handling the Covid-19 pandemic as well as creating a mitigation system to anticipate the emergence of new outbreaks. FIF collected the fund from contributions of members, non-G20 developing countries and several philanthropists.

Based on a collective agreement, the fund is managed by Chatib Basri, Indonesian finance minister for the 2013-2014 period and Rwandan Health Minister Daniel Ngamije. In addition, there is a reserve fund of $72 billion channeled through the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This money has been put in savings and is subject to be allocated in the event of a financial crisis spurred by global health problems.

Fruitful Effort

According to Airlangga, the aforementioned achievement is the result of serious work, with the support of G20 stakeholders.

"One of the reasons Indonesia’s optimism is boosted about this declaration is the signal by the G7 [Group of Seven]. They believe that the publication of this declaration is important," Airlangga said.

This growing optimism, as Airlangga further asserted, had dispelled doubts that the G20 Summit would not be able to create a joint communiqué. Various parties are predicting that the most likely result in the summit is to publish a Chair's Summary, which contains different pro and contra opinions. Both declaration and summary must emphasize the importance of achieving concrete results.

The Indonesian presidency for the period of December 1, 2021-November 30, 2022 is the first time an Asian country and a developing country has led the grouping.

Responding to these concerns, Airlangga explained that the G20 was widely renowned as the world’s highest economic forum, established in 1999. When the meeting of state leaders commenced in 2008, leaders from developed countries had the tendency to dictate to developing countries. Members of the G20 also include the world’s seven richest countries.

The Indonesian presidency for the period of December 1, 2021-November 30, 2022 is the first time an Asian country and a developing country has led the grouping. Hence, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has promised that the upcoming G20 would not only be held to represent developing countries but also to hear the voices of poor countries.

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> G20 and Momentum of Transformation

Indonesia's leadership initiated the steps taken by another developing country, namely India, which will take the next G20 presidency in 2023, followed by Brazil in 2024. It is most likely that South Africa will take the presidency in 2025.

With Indonesia taking the role of G20 president, discussions at the G20 Summit will seek various solutions to build a global health architecture, a digital economic system and maintain geopolitical stability. The summit ensures that the solutions being sought will also give friendly benefits to developing countries with the results that can be implemented.

This sherpa track discusses issues of employment, the online economy, anticorruption, education, the environment, tourism and industry.

It is worth noting that the non-financial economic sherpa track is managed by the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Coordinating Economic Affairs Ministry. This sherpa track discusses issues of employment, the online economy, anticorruption, education, the environment, tourism and industry. The sherpa track has conducted four meetings with representatives of all members and multilateral institutions.

Meanwhile, the financial-economic track has built collaboration with the Health Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry, and they have held eight meetings. (AGE/LAS/FAJ/SUT/JOS)

This article was translated by Aulia R. Sungkar