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G20
This Week in AsiaExplained

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

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Asian member states have grown in prominence as China, India and Indonesia’s economies have boomed over the past two decades. Photo: AFP
Meaghan Tobin
The G20 marks its 20th anniversary this year, and those two decades have seen Asia wield an increasingly important voice at the multilateral forum.
Not only have the forum’s Asian member states grown in prominence as China, India and Indonesia’s economies have boomed over the past two decades, but the host location has moved progressively east from early summits in the US and Europe.
South Korea hosted the summit in 2010, China in 2016, and India will host in 2022 after Japan’s stint this year, on June 28-29 in Osaka.

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.

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.

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