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Piyush Goyal’s Jaipur call to the G20: Help the world to withstand any future shock
G20 is expected to reach a consensus on reforming the multilateral trading system, creating robust supply chains, and promoting MSMEs to help countries prosper.
Jaipur The G20 is expected to arrive at significant consensus to reform the multilateral trading system, create robust supply chains, promote micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and help people of developing and least developed countries prosper on the principle of equity, Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.
Under India’s Presidency, the G20 is looking for “global good and ensuring good future for the people in the developing and less developed countries”, Goyal added at a press conference in Jaipur ahead of the two-day trade and investment ministerial meeting (TIMM) starting from Thursday. The expectation, he said, would be for G20 to “invoke the Jaipur call for action”, referring to the intent of the members to help promote industry and MSMEs by bridging the information gap to help expand businesses and trade.
Goyal alluded to the recent economic devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to global economies, particularly least developed countries (LDCs), and underscored the importance of “timely, trusted and transparent” global supply chains.
“We have deliberated on formulating high-level principles for digitalisation of trade and trade facilitation. We are confident that tomorrow [Thursday) and day after (Friday), ministerial meetings will come up with the concrete, actionable outcome agenda, which will help the world withstand any future shock,” he said.
India has been striving to build consensus among the G20 members over five key agenda -- trade for growth and prosperity, resilient trade and global value chain (GVCs), integrating MSMEs in global trade, logistics for trade, and reforms in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
According to experts, several factors such as the prolonged war in Ukraine, the after-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, vagaries of weather and high food and energy prices continue to cause uncertainty in global trade, and these needs to be addressed while reforming WTO.
Expressing faith in a strong WTO, Goyal said the India Presidency has emphasised on the rules-based, open, inclusive multilateral trading system.
“Our engagement at the WTO ministerial will further our agenda as the voice of the less developed countries, the voice of the developing world, and help India play a significant role in building global consensus for a better future for the people…,” he said, referring to the Global South. “As we have seen over the last few years under prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has increasingly become the voice of the Global South.”
Founded in 1999, the Group of Twenty (G20) comprises 19 countries, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK and US, and the European Union. The G20 members represent around 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population. Besides G20 members, other invitees at TIMM are Bangladesh, Egypt, Netherlands, Oman, Singapore and UAE.
