The foreign ministers of the Group of Twenty (G20), meeting in the city of Buenos Aires, highlighted this Monday (21.5.18) the value of multilateralism, in a global context in which this approach faces "pressures from different sources."
The G20 foreign ministers discussed issues related to global governance and actions for fair and sustainable development, topics proposed by Argentina, which chairs the mechanism this year.
After the meeting, a press conference was held by the G20 "troika", made up of the country that holds the Presidency of the forum, the one that presided over it the previous year (Germany) and the one that will preside over it the following year (Japan).
The information on the main developments achieved at the meeting was provided by the Argentine Foreign Minister, Jorge Faurie; the German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas; and the Japanese Foreign Minister, Taro Kono.
Germany,
"Multilateralism and global governance, in addition to fair and sustainable development, are at the heart of the issue." "We are very pleased with the results of our discussions. Many of the conflicts we have to deal with today show that multilateralism is under pressure from many sources, and we believe that all states should play within a level playing field, in accordance with international law," Maas stressed.
The German official stressed that "It is important that the G20 develops strong and clear responses to these issues. "It must be a forum that speaks out in favour of joint, cooperative and trustworthy working conditions in the world."
Maas added that his country "is in favour of fair and equitable trade, a fundamental condition for development, and in favour of an international system based on rules, which implies the effectiveness of the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement system"This is something we consider particularly important. The voices that are in favour of isolation and closing down businesses are a matter of great concern, as reflected in our discussions today."
Argentina
Faurie also expressed the same sentiments, saying that the Buenos Aires meeting was "a very productive and enriching work session. We have thought about how the G20 is working, what to do to make it work better and about the main concerns of the group's members regarding global events."
"The presence here of so many foreign ministers is a demonstration of the commitment to the mechanismanism"We have all agreed that it is better to have and maintain multilateralism, although we have to agree on reform tasks where necessary or be flexible to adapt to new realities," said the head of Argentine diplomacy.
After clarifying that the meeting will not generate a final document or declaration, like those that occur at plenary meetings of the Finance and Economy Ministers, Faurie stressed that the world "is facing a new reality, with technological challenges, and we have to provide answers"because we have an enormous impact on the work system, the workforce, the ways of producing and the need to re-adapt ourselves to this task."
"Multilateral organizations must respond and provide guidance that allows us to say that we are working to build an inclusive consensus," he said.
Japan
For his part, the Japanese representative pointed out that there were "very fruitful discussions in Buenos Aires, frank conversations that have contributed to the topic of the summit of leaders at the end of this year, and that have to do with Building consensus for fair and sustainable development".
"As the global economy recovers steadily, it is important to continue to strengthen growth around the world by promoting free trade and innovation. We need to continue discussions to achieve an inclusive and sustainable international community," he said.
China
In addition to Faurie, Maas and Taro, the meeting was attended by the State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Yi, who in his speech before the plenary, said that "History has proven that insisting on multilateralism, perfecting global governance and building community of interests correspond to the trend of the era., and the common interests of all countries."
"We need to create a new type of international relations with cooperation and mutual benefit as our goals," he said.
Also present were British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, US Under Secretary of State John Sullivan, and Bulgarian Ekaterina Zaharieva, whose country holds the rotating Presidency of the European Union (EU), among others.
The G20 Leaders' Summit, whose members together represent 85 percent of global gross product, two-thirds of the world's population and 75 percent of international trade, is scheduled to take place in Buenos Aires in late November.
Source: Xinhua
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