Explainer | Explained: why the G20 summit matters for Asia (and Asean)
- Asia’s major economies have become increasingly important at the multilateral forum since its founding 20 years ago
- Experts say the forum is an opportunity for the likes of China and Japan to step into leadership roles formerly dominated by the West
The forum brings together the leaders of the world’s fastest and largest-growing economies to focus on the most pressing issues affecting international financial stability.
The G20 was formed mostly as a response to a string of international financial crises, from the 1994 devaluation of the Mexican peso against the US dollar to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The global contagion that followed the latter demonstrated the interconnectedness of the world’s economies and the need for both developed and emerging countries to collectively solve economic issues.
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Collectively, the G20 member states represent more than two-thirds of the world’s population and over 80 per cent of global trade, said Anit Mukherjee, assistant professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
The varied composition of the forum – in terms of geography, ideology and economic development – ensures it can address the concerns of most, though not all, of the world’s countries, Mukherjee said.
How has the G20 forum served as a platform for Asia’s concerns?
Though the forum is intended to discuss pressing issues facing the global economy, the agenda this year also focuses on technology and environmental problems.
Over the years the G20 has become a much-watched venue for bilateral meetings between world leaders. Experts suggest that with such a packed agenda for this year’s summit, these bilateral meetings may be the only place where real progress is made.
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As the environment is one of the summit’s designated themes, the Asean Framework of Action on Marine Debris will surely be a focus, Termsak said.
Economist Geethanjali Nataraj from the The Brookings Institution India said while discussion of these major issues at past summits had not lead to major progress toward their resolution, the forum had been a useful platform for dialogue and information sharing.
How have member states from Asia played a bigger role in the forum over the years?
“The G20 is more or less a mechanism to sidestep the problems of the United Nations,” said Mukherjee from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. “It is a useful forum for most major Asian powers. Though it is not fully representative of all Asian countries, it wasn’t designed to be so.”
The G20 meetings have also been a venue in which Asia’s major economies have stepped into leadership roles vacated by an increasingly inward-looking US and EU.
Abe, who is on track to become Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, “recognises the importance of multilateralism to being a leader,” Yennie Lindgren said.
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Abe’s stewardship of the summit also coincides with the attendance of a record number of representatives from Asean nations, with leaders from Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand set to be present.
Nearly half of the G20 states are dialogue partners of Asean, said the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s Termsak – making them more likely to raise concerns also relevant to Asean nations.
“No one can tell the US and China what to do,” he said. “But the rest of the G20 member states can still join forces in protecting their common interest in multilateralism.”
Recently re-elected Indonesian President Joko Widodo has announced that he plans to discuss accelerating the development of the digital economy and artificial intelligence at the summit, as well as employment and women’s empowerment issues, in addition to trade and investment.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha will attend the summit as the chair of Asean, bringing concerns discussed at last week’s 34th Asean Summit in Bangkok, including the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement between Asean and Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea (all G20 nations) and New Zealand.
Is the G20 useful for Asia? Has it lost its relevance to emerging economies?
Though experts agree that Asian nations have stepped into influential leadership roles in the forum, which essentially steers the global economy, in recent years tensions between developed and emerging economies have emerged as roadblocks to agreement at the summit.
However, the rest of the G20 will be increasingly be watching Asian nations to see how they address some of the world’s most pressing challenges, Yennie Lindgren said.
“Climate change, employment issues and demographic shifts – these are all issues which Japan, Korea and China have all been grappling with themselves, and these are issues the other G20 states will look to Asia for answers on,” she said.
The G20 provides a direct avenue for smaller economies to engage the world’s largest economy in a direct dialogue, said Tang Siew Mun, senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. “It is perhaps the only platform where Asean member states can share their concerns on the US-China trade war with the leadership of both nations simultaneously.”
