President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced that the G20 leaders have ratified the G20 Bali Leaders Declaration during the November 15-16, 2022, Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, agreeing on 52 paragraphs. He highlighted one paragraph, which needed a prolonged and heated discussion on the Russia-Ukraine war.
“We issued a condemnation against Russia for violating the territorial and integrity boundaries that resulted in the people’s suffering and impacted the global economy,” he told a post-Summit press conference in Nusa Dua, Bali, on November 16, 2022. “The discussion was tough. We had a debate until midnight on the issue and eventually reached a consensus. Leaders of the G20 agreed on the content of the declaration, including representative from Russia.”
Jokowi had earlier handed over the G20 2023 presidency to India Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He urged other G20 leaders to pledge that they will work together for digital inclusion over the next decade.
“The principle of ‘data for development’ will be an integral part of the overall theme of our presidency, ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’,” he said.
Condemnation to Russia’s invasion
Russia President Vladimir Putin skipped the Summit “due to time constraint”. Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov represented him at the event but had to leave early and was replaced by Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
Responding to a missile strike to Poland, which killed two civilians, Jokowi said he regretted the incident. “I called on all parties to remain calm and refrain [themselves] from escalating the tension. War will only bring devastation. We must stop war,” he said. Jokowi added that US President Joe Biden already said that “the missile was unlikely coming from Russia”.
Jokowi reiterated his call that “the war must stop”, adding that the G20 is a development and financial forum and should not be brought into politic.
Indonesia Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, who accompanied the president in the press briefing, explained that the keyword from the negotiations in the past few months was “trust”.
“Foreign ministers met and negotiated so that we could reach an agreement. There was trust among the G20 country members towards Indonesia’s presidency. In the beginning, everyone was pessimistic that a declaration would not be possible. However, we did it,” she said.
Concrete results
Jokowi said the Summit also achieved concrete results:
- The establishment of US$ 1.5 billions pandemic fund
- The establishment of resilient and sustainability trust for US$ 81.6 billion to help countries in crisis
- Energy transition mechanism fund for Indonesia worth US$ 20 billion
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who also attended the press briefing, explained that discussion on the energy sector was also tough.
“The energy sector results on the carbon dioxide and it’s not easy to switch into renewable energy. Saudi Arabia, which is a G20 member, and our guest United Arab Emirates are fossil fuel producers and exporters,” she said. “We don’t only need to subsidize the fossil fuel but we need funding to invest on renewable energy.”
Read also: Food crisis, pandemic and geopolitical tension are the G20 Summit focus
Successful host
Adriana Elisabeth, a researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), said that being a G20 presidency and Summit host in the middle of Russia-Ukraine war was not easy. Attended by 17 heads of states from 20 countries was an achievement in itself.
“Indonesia can convince the G20 countries to attend the Summit in Bali,” she said separately.
Another point of success was the attendance of US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. US and China relationship has been heating up on Taiwan issue.
“It is a grateful and respect for Indonesian presidency this year due to the host country’s commitment on economic recovery, health and global climate change,” she said.
Elisabeth said Indonesia’s success at the event will make the country “well respected in international stage. The G20 members and the world will see Indonesia due to its potential as a middle power.”
“The consensus produced in this G20 forum will mark global economic order and concrete works in the health issue, climate change and digital economy. It should be implemented later, including at national
level,” she added.
