The Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Investment/Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) and the Ministry of Industry will work together to hold the Trade, Investment and Industry Working Group (TIIWG), scheduled for September in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara. This synergy reflects their commitment to fully supporting Indonesia's 2022 G20 Presidency for global economic recovery through the greater role of trade, investment and industry.
This was conveyed by Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi, Minister of Investment/Head of BKPM Bahlil Lahadalia and Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita at a hybrid Joint Press Conference, “G20 TIIWG Inauguration”, in Jakarta on Tuesday (8/2).
The G20 TIIWG Meeting, led by the Ministry of Trade, carries the theme “Aligning Trade, Investment, and Industry Agenda with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.
“The Ministry of Trade is committed to fully supporting Indonesia's G20 Presidency so the G20 becomes a catalyst for global economic recovery by prioritizing partnership and inclusivity and delivering real impact for global and national communities. The Ministry of Trade, together with the Ministry of Investment/BKPM and the Ministry of Industry, is ready to host and lead the G20 TIIWG meeting to discuss how each country designs trade policies to recover and remain relevant to current contexts—inclusive, people-centered, environmentally friendly and sustainable,” explained Trade Minister Lutfi, who is also responsible for the 2022 G20 Side Events.
The meeting raises six priority issues: WTO Reform; the Role of the Multilateral Trading System to Strengthen the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals; Trade, Investment and Industry Response to the Pandemic and Global Health Architecture; Digital Trade and Sustainable Global Value Chains; Spurring Sustainable Investment for Global Economic Recovery; and Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization via Industry 4.0. Discussions are expected to produce concrete results through ministerial agreements in line with the three main deliverables of Indonesia's G20 Presidency: Global Health Architecture, Digital Economic Transformation and Energy Transition.
Through these six issues, Indonesia will ensure trade, investment and industry agendas and policies serve the SDGs. The SDGs are an inseparable foundation of policy change in these three sectors to achieve prosperous, equitable and just sustainable development in both developed and developing countries. The Ministry of Trade will ensure this shared interest is accepted by all G20 delegations and agreed by consensus by all G20 Ministers.
Through the G20 TIIWG, Trade Minister Lutfi continued, the Ministry of Trade stresses this narrative as a shared responsibility for economic recovery and will discuss it with all member countries, stakeholders and international organizations as an important and urgent issue.
“Labuan Bajo will send a message to the world that G20 Trade Ministers continue working so trade, investment and industry can again be engines of sustainable economic growth and truly improve global welfare. ‘We need to come back to trade. We need to come back to SDGs’,” Trade Minister Lutfi concluded.
Meanwhile, Minister of Investment/Head of BKPM Bahlil Lahadalia said the Indonesian government's focus in leveraging the G20 Presidency is to promote sustainable and inclusive investment.
“Indonesia must be at the forefront in playing its role to promote green energy. We have extraordinary natural resources,” Bahlil said.
Bahlil again stressed that every incoming investment must benefit regional businesses through the involvement of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Through the G20 momentum, the Ministry of Investment/BKPM will keep encouraging positive collaboration between investors and national businesses in the regions, including MSMEs.
Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said the G20 TIIWG will make history because, for the first time, industrial issues are specifically discussed at the G20—an initiative of the Indonesian Government to add industry to the TIIWG nomenclature.
Minister Agus added that to seize this moment, the Government of Indonesia will encourage G20 collaboration on breakthroughs and concrete action in trade, investment and industry to contribute more to global economic recovery.
“The G20 TIIWG meeting will open with the cultural beauty and heritage traditions of Indonesia in Solo, which remain well preserved and able to adapt to modern times and technology. Solo will showcase Indonesia's achievements in industrial development and invite G20 countries to collaborate in using technology for inclusive and sustainable industry, to recover together and recover stronger,” the Minister said.
Indonesia's 2022 G20 Presidency
The G20 is a multilateral cooperation forum of 19 major countries and the European Union with middle to high incomes, from developing to developed countries. Its members come from various regions: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Australia and the European Union.
The 2022 G20 Presidency is Indonesia's first since joining the G20 when the forum was formed in 1999. At that time, Indonesia was recovering from the 1997–1998 economic crisis and was seen as an emerging economy with very large economic size and potential in Asia.
Indonesia's G20 Presidency officially began on 1 December 2021 and runs until the handover at the Summit at the end of 2022. Indonesia was designated to hold the G20 Presidency at the 2020 Riyadh Summit, and the handover from Italy to Indonesia took place on 31 October 2021 in Rome, Italy.
Global economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis is still under way, but inequality and uncertainty persist. New Covid-19 variants still threaten the economy and