Vietnam made a positive contribution at the G20 Summit.

The meeting of senior officials of the Group of 20 leading developed and emerging economies (G20), also known as the 2nd G20 Sherpa Meeting, took place on March 23-24 in Frankfurt, Germany, under the chairmanship of Germany.

Senior officials attend a forum at the G20 Summit in Shanghai. (Illustrative photo. Source: THX/VNA)

Along with the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Chad, and Senegal, Vietnam was one of the countries participating as a guest. The Vietnamese delegation, led by Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Vu Quang Minh (Vietnamese Sherpa), attended as the host of APEC 2017.

In addition to senior officials from G20 member countries, the conference was also attended by representatives from major international organizations, including the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), as well as representatives from G20 social organizations and groups in the fields of labor (L20), business (B20), science (S20), and socio-political organizations (C20).

This Sherpa conference is taking place against the backdrop of a global economy beginning to show clearer, albeit slow, signs of recovery; rising protectionist and anti-globalization trends; and adjustments to foreign economic policies by some governments, impacting the ability to reach consensus on important international issues such as trade liberalization, climate change, and the role of multilateral development and trade cooperation organizations.

In this context, building on the achievements of the first G20 Sherpa Meeting, the second G20 Sherpa Meeting continued to discuss the contents for preparing the report for the G20 Summit to be held in July 2017, including the beginning of drafting the key messages of the G20 leaders to be announced at this Summit.

Moving towards the theme "Shaping an interconnected world," the agenda of the second G20 Sherpa Summit includes key areas such as: global economic prospects; improving people's lives through job creation and maximizing the benefits of digitalization; sharing the benefits of globalization through promoting trade, investment, sustainable development, ensuring food security, and supporting Africa; health and disease issues; ensuring security and strengthening people's trust through counter-terrorism and anti-corruption; climate and energy issues; and refugee and immigration issues.

At the conference, the Vietnamese delegation actively and proactively contributed many opinions in the discussion sessions. Speaking at the Trade and Investment session, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Vu Quang Minh conveyed to the conference the results of the first APEC Senior Officials Meeting; suggested that APEC and G20 should strengthen coordination and complement each other on issues of mutual interest, especially trade and investment; emphasized the importance of globalization and multilateral trade; and called on countries to consider adjusting domestic policies to ensure that the benefits of globalization are distributed equitably, aiming for inclusive and sustainable development.

The Vietnamese delegation also shared results and experiences in addressing similar issues within frameworks such as the United Nations Regional Conference on Eurasia on Enhancing Cooperation to Facilitate Transit, Trade and Implement the 2030 Agenda, the Mekong Subregion cooperation frameworks, the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy and the Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam (ACMECS-CLMV) strategy…

Many responsible contributions from the Vietnamese delegation on promoting economic integration, tripartite cooperation to support Africa, combating antimicrobial resistance, implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, fighting corruption, combating illegal wildlife trafficking, and responding to climate change, etc., were welcomed and endorsed by the host country Germany and many delegates.

The G20 is a forum bringing together the world's largest economies, accounting for 80% of global GDP and 75% of global trade. Since 2008, the G20 has held an annual summit to reaffirm its commitment to strengthening policy coordination to address global economic issues.

This is the second time Vietnam has been invited to attend the G20 Summit and related meetings. Vietnam was first invited to G20 meetings in 2010 in South Korea and Canada when Vietnam held the ASEAN chairmanship. Participating in and actively contributing to forums of leading world leaders such as the G20 will significantly enhance Vietnam's role and position on the international stage.

On the sidelines of the Conference, the Sherpa - Head of the Vietnamese delegation - held a bilateral meeting with the Head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) delegation to discuss the possibility of strengthening cooperation between the two sides and promoting OECD support for Vietnam in successfully hosting APEC Year 2017.

Vietnamese Sherpas also held bilateral meetings with Sherpas from other countries, including Germany, the United States, China, South Korea, France, Russia, Singapore, Argentina, etc., regarding issues discussed at the conference as well as issues related to bilateral cooperation of mutual interest.

According to Vietnam+