G20 Development Ministers Commit to Multilateralism and Blended Finance Schemes for Developing Countries at Historical Belitung Summit

JAKARTA – The Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas wrapped up the G20 Development Ministerial Meeting (DMM) which took place on 7-9 September 2022 in Belitung, Indonesia. The Minister of National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas Suharso Monoarfa emphasized that the G20 Development Ministerial Meeting emphasized the commitment and relevance of the G20 as the main forum for the international economic cooperation aimed at narrowing development inequality and alleviating global poverty. “This is the second time in history of the G20 that we can gather all Development Ministers from the G20 countries, invited countries, and Heads of International Organizations to unite together in their commitments in supporting development actions,” Minister Suharso said in Belitung, Thursday (8/9).

History was also made by the fact that Belitung itself hosted an international meeting for the first time in Indonesia’s history. Belitung represents a development process and a real transition from dependence on the extractive sector, namely tin mining, towards the development of an inclusive and sustainable tourism sector. “This shows that development achievements cannot be realized overnight. It takes strong commitment, concrete policies, and government consistency to achieve this transition. This is the impression we want to convey to the G20 Development Ministers and all delegates involved,” explained Minister Suharso.

The G20 DMM discussed a number of development issues, including the acceleration of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, expanding the scale of innovative financing, increasing productivity and competitiveness of Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), optimizing adaptive social protection, and transforming the economy through the implementation of green economy and blue economy initiatives such as low carbon development and climate resilience. The G20 Development Ministers will partner with developing countries, international organizations, Multilateral Development Banks, and other stakeholders to implement international development cooperation, including policy research, dialogue platforms, interlevel cooperation and triangular cooperation methods.

“As a concrete contribution, the Government of Indonesia has also initiated the formation of the Global Blended Finance Alliance,” Minister Suharso explained. The G20 DMM was the culmination of the efforts of the Development Working Group Meetings that took place in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Bali throughout 2022, which succeeded in agreeing on two output documents or deliverables, namely the G20 Roadmap for Stronger Recovery and Resilience in Developing Countries, Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and the G20 Principles to Scale up Blended Finance Methods in Developing Countries, LDCs and SIDS.

Responding to geopolitical tensions and their negative implications, the 2022 G20 DMM agreed that solving development challenges requires collaboration, inclusive multilateralism, and collective action. “In the midst of the many challenges and differences of opinion in addressing these challenges, it is not easy to find a middle ground. However, once again, I am proud that the G20 Development Ministers can attend and discuss crucial issues in the development sector, especially by prioritizing the perspectives of developing countries,” concluded the Minister.  

About the Development Working Group

The Development Working Group (DWG) is one of the working groups of the 2022 G20 Indonesia Presidency which aims to discuss development issues in developing countries, least developed countries (LDC) and island countries (Small Island Developing States/SIDS). The DWG was first formed at the 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto, Canada with the main task of discussing the G20 priority agendas in the field of development. The DWG identifies development challenges, and then formulates the best solutions to promote economic growth in developing and low-income countries as an effort to mitigate the global financial crisis.

During the Indonesian Presidency of the G20 in 2022, the DWG raised four priority issues, namely:
1) Strengthening Recovery from the Covid-19 Pandemic and Ensuring Resilience in Developing Countries, Underdeveloped Countries, and Archipelagic Countries through the three key pillars of MSMEs, Adaptive Social Protection, and Low-Carbon Green and Blue Economies
2) Increasing Private and Blended Financing in Funding Sustainable Development in Developing Countries, Underdeveloped Countries, and Archipelagic Countries
3) Renewing the Global Commitment to Multilateralism for Sustainable Development
4) Coordinating the progress of achieving the SDGs in the G20 and updating the G20 Development Commitments.

The DWG’s focal points, organized by the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, are the 1^st DWG Meeting in Jakarta (24-25 February) and the 2^nd DWG Meeting in Yogyakarta (24-25 May). A third DWG meeting will be held in Bali between 10 August to 12 August 2022. The G20 Indonesia Presidency will also hold the G20 Development Ministerial Meeting in Belitung on 7-9 September 2022.