Bappenas Urges Concrete Solutions to Fulfill G20 Development Commitments

The Minister for National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas Suharso Monoarfa says the G20 efforts to tackle development challenges in developing and least developed economies has to be translated into more concrete actions that can drive forward stronger recovery results. Many countries, especially in the developing world, are grappling with numerous challenges that are disrupting their abilities to fulfill Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets, which are due in 2030.

“Developing countries are missing $1.2 trillion a year just to fill their social protection gap, and 60% of developing economies are at high risk of debt distress. These challenges have heightened the cost of economic recovery post Covid-19 and diverts funds from SDG fulfillment,” the Minister said during the first day of the 3rd G20 Development Working Group (DWG) Meeting in Bali, Wednesday (10/8).

The Minister stated three immediate actions to drive forward a stronger recovery and economic resilience. First, policy measures that can enhance the resilience of our societies such as MSMEs which in many developing countries, predominantly contributes to approximately 70 percent of job creation, to adaptive social protection that can provide a pathway to a more resilient state for households. Second, sustainable growth by pursuing green economy and blue economy through low carbon and climate resilient development. Lastly, G20 countries must realize that no country can solve the lasting Covid-19 impacts alone.

“As inequality widens between and within countries, most developing countries are not able to finance their post-pandemic economic recoveries effectively, despite international support. Thus, we must pinpoint new innovative ways in funding their development targets, through mobilizing additional finance schemes where it is most needed, such as through scaling up blended finance,” the Minister added.

Leading the 3rd DWG Meeting, DWG G20 Chairman Scenaider C. H. Siahaan explained that the main objective of the 3rd DGW G20 Meeting is to finalize several deliverables and agreements in preparation for the upcoming G20 Ministerial Meeting in Belitung on 7-9 September 2022.

These deliverables include the G20 Roadmap for Stronger Recovery and Resilience in Developing Countries, Including Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, the G20 principles to scale-up blended finance in Developing Countries, Including LDCs and SIDS, the G20 Ministerial Vision Statement: Multilateralism for SDGs Decade of Action, and the 2022 G20 Bali Update.

About the Development Working Group

The Development Working Group (DWG) is one of the working groups of the 2022 G20 Indonesia Presidency which aims to discuss development issues in developing countries, least developed countries (LDC) and island countries (Small Island Developing States/SIDS). The DWG was first formed at the 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto, Canada with the main task of discussing the G20 priority agendas in the field of development. The DWG identifies development challenges, and then formulates the best solutions to promote economic growth in developing and low-income countries as an effort to mitigate the global financial crisis.

During the Indonesian Presidency of the G20 in 2022, the DWG raised four priority issues, namely:
1) Strengthening Recovery from the Covid-19 Pandemic and Ensuring Resilience in Developing Countries, Underdeveloped Countries, and Archipelagic Countries through the three key pillars of MSMEs, Adaptive Social Protection, and Low-Carbon Green and Blue Economies
2) Increasing Private and Blended Financing in Funding Sustainable Development in Developing Countries, Underdeveloped Countries, and Archipelagic Countries
3) Renewing the Global Commitment to Multilateralism for Sustainable Development
4) Coordinating the progress of achieving the SDGs in the G20 and updating the G20 Development Commitments.

The DWG’s focal points, organized by the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, are the 1^st DWG Meeting in Jakarta (24-25 February) and the 2^nd DWG Meeting in Yogyakarta (24-25 May). A third DWG meeting will be held in Bali between 10 August to 12 August 2022. The G20 Indonesia Presidency will also hold the G20 Development Ministerial Meeting in Belitung on 7-9 September 2022.