On behalf of the Pacific family, it was a great honour for Fiji to participate in the G20 Leaders’ Summit, which concluded on a high note on Wednesday, 16th November 2022.
President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, passed over the gavel holding the helm of the G20 Forum leadership to Indian Prime Minister, Honourable Narendra Modi, after hosting a successful G20 Forum in 2022.
The world leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen global solidarity in building back better and stronger from the common challenges they face.
Fiji (representing the Pacific) was amongst the list of invited countries, including Singapore; Netherlands; Spain; United Arab Emirates (UAE); Suriname (representing Caricom); Senegal (representing the African Union); and Cambodia (representing ASEAN) attended the G20 Forum in 2022 and contributed to the success of the G20 Summit this year.
Fiji and Suriname’s participations were first-time invitations to the G20 Forum, from the United Nations Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Grouping, through the kind invitation of the Indonesian Presidency, indicating at the outset the importance of bringing SIDS issues more glaringly into the G20 Forum.
The Fijian delegation was led by the Special Envoy (SE) of the Honourable Prime Minister to the G20 Leaders Summit, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, accompanied by Permanent Secretary Office of the Prime and Foreign Affairs, Mr Yogesh Karan and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Fiji to Indonesia, His Excellency Amenatave Yauvoli.
The vote of thanks towards the Indonesian Presidency was delivered by UK Prime Minister, Honourable Rishi Sunak, who spoke volumes of the tremendous leadership rendered by President Joko Widodo and the Government of Indonesia, which culminated in a successful conclusion of the 2022 G20 Forum at the end of the two day meeting held in the Republic of Indonesia.
The schedules of the two days (15-16 November 2022) were predominantly three plenary sessions- focusing on thematic discussions in Food and Energy Security; Health; and Digital Transformation, and capped with a tree planting session by Leaders, supporting the theme of the Indonesian Presidency of “recover together and recover stronger”.
Fiji participated and contributed to the Summit in two sessions. The intervention in the Food Security session made the clarion call on the G20 to partner with the Pacific in addressing supply-side constraints and institutional capacities to strengthen our production and supply base of nutrient-rich foods and development for food security and climate-resilient food production systems.
Special Envoy Ratu Inoke Kubuabola thanked the Indonesian G20 Presidency for its initiative to strengthen food security in the Small Islands Developing States of the Pacific to strengthen our agri-food systems under the G20 Action for “Strong and Inclusive Recovery”. A regional project will be developed and will be based in Fiji with the support of this partnership.
In addition, the vital importance of digital transformations was highlighted with lessons drawn from the covid-19 pandemic being invaluable. In this connection, the Pacific has embraced digital technology in the context of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific calling for strategic partnerships such as with the G20 to strengthen investments for transport, communications and connectivity within the Pacific region.
The Summit also adopted the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration as the outcome of the G20 Indonesia 2022 Leaders Forum. It was a great honour for Fiji, on behalf of the Pacific, to be participating in the G20 Forum in 2022 under the Indonesian Presidency- at all levels in the Working and Engagement Groups, Ministerial, and Leaders’ Summit.
The Fijian delegation recognised Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s leadership in the G20 Forum in 2022.
