1st G20 Sherpa Meeting, Indonesia Raises Health, Digital and Economic Transformation, and Energy Transition Issues for G20 Presidency

Press Release No. 437/HM/KOMINFO/12/2021

Thursday, December 9, 2021

About

1st G20 Sherpa Meeting, Indonesia Raises Health, Digital and Economic Transformation, and Energy Transition Issues 

for G20 Presidency

The successful convening of the First G20 Sherpa Meeting on December 7-8, 2021 in Jakarta marked the strong commitment of G20 Members to work together in building and recovering the post COVID-19 pandemic global economy. The meeting was attended by delegates of G20 Members, invitees, and international organizations, of which 21 delegates were present on-site, 14 delegates attended virtually, and 3 delegates attended both on-site and virtually/hybrid. This First G20 Sherpa Meeting was also the first of more than 150 series of meetings to be held during Indonesia’s G20 Presidency.

Raising the theme of “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”, Indonesia highlights the importance of concrete and holistic actions to eliminate disparity, bridge existing divide, and bolster sustainable economic productivity to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. As mandated by President Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s G20 Presidency is expected to create a breakthrough in building a concrete global collaboration for an accelerated and strong pandemic recovery.

Indonesia’s G20 Presidency carries three main topics, as follows:

• Global Health Architecture, to strengthening and rebuilding the post COVID-19 global health architecture, of which Indonesia may act as the global hub for vaccine development and distribution;
• Digital and Economic Transformation, to optimize the benefits of inclusive digital technology advancement through promoting digitalization in business sectors; and
• Energy Transition, to expand access to technology for utilization of green and affordable energy along with sustainable financing.

Discussion on these three main topics are reflected in the priority issues delivered by the Chairs of G20 working groups and engagement groups, including on Health, Development, Education, Employment, Digital Economy, Trade, Industry and Investment, Agriculture, Environment and Climate Change, Energy, Anti-Corruption, Tourism, and Women Empowerment.

In general, all delegates welcome the priority issues brought by the Indonesia’s Presidency in each working group. They also wish for Indonesia’s Presidency to bridge the divergent views between developed and developing countries on the issues.

The First G20 Sherpa meeting was launched by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, whom delivered in his keynote speech that the G20 Forum must advance forward-looking and action-oriented agendas. Coordinating Minister Hartarto also stated some strategic plans of Indonesia’s G20 Presidency, among others are mobilization of global health financing, MSMEs’ empowerment through digitalization, as well as technology cooperation in energy.

Concurrently, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno L.P. Marsudi, also encouraged the G20 Forum to achieve concrete results in the three priority issues, namely health, digital-based transformation, and energy transition, “to bring upon great advantages to the world and achieve the SDGs”.

“G20 must be “down to earth” in formulating solution to global challenges. G20 also has to be the catalyst of an inclusive and sustainable recovery. G20 Sherpas hold main responsibility to create clear guidance in transforming challenges into opportunities, and guide our leaders in our changing world,” said Minister Marsudi in the opening ceremony of the First G20 Sherpa Meeting.

The Meeting invited Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Director General of World Health Organization. In his remarks on the current state of global COVID-19 handling, Dr. Adhanom emphasized the importance of strengthening global management and financing of health.

In addition, the First G20 Sherpa Meeting also invited Dr. Mari Pangestu, Managing Director for Development Policy and Partnerships. At this juncture, Dr. Pangestu discussed about the prospect of global economic growth as well as possible collaboration to support global economic recovery.

At the same opportunity, Indonesia introduced a retreat session for G20 Sherpas to have a more in-depth and open dialogue on joint efforts to increase the relevance of G20 works. In the second day of the meeting, G20 Sherpas visited the Indonesia’s Center of Digital Industry 4.0 (Pusat Industri Digital Indonesia 4.0) or PIDI 4.0, one of concrete initiatives from the Presidency to encourage digital industries in contributing to an accelerated transformation of Industry 4.0 in Indonesia, including showcasing utilization of 5G networks utilization for robot operationalization, VR technology, and many other industrialization features.

Jakarta, December 9, 2021

Spokesperson for MCIT

Dedy Permadi 

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