Introduction section G20
G20
The Group of Twenty (G20) was established in 1999 as an informal discussion group, allowing the world’s largest economies to share financial and economic information, with the aim of promoting international cooperation in order to achieve stable and sustained growth. When the global crisis broke out in 2008, the G20 became the leading forum for international economic cooperation and it also began to involve meetings between Heads of State and Government.
The group is made up of the G7 countries, Russia, Turkey, the Republic of South Africa, Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia, China, Australia, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and the European Union. International organisations also take part in the group: the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the United Nations (UN). In addition, the acting presidency selects and invites a limited number of other countries to also take part in the meetings, thereby ensuring appropriate geographical representation for the group.
The G20 presidency lasts for one year and is held in turn by the various member countries, who are grouped together into five geographic groups for this purpose. Each presidency, assisted by the previous presidency and the next presidency (the so-called troika), proposes priorities, coordinates activities among G20 members, manages the publication and dissemination of documents and organises meetings.
Four finance ministers’ meetings, four Sherpas’ meetings (the personal representatives of the heads of state and government) and five deputies’ meetings are held over the course of each year; the acting presidency may also call thematic meetings. Meetings are based on the activities of numerous working groups, culminating in the summit of the Heads of State and Government in the second half of the year.
Please find below a list of the most recent and upcoming summits:
- Germany in 2017
- Argentina in 2018
- Japan in 2019
- Saudi Arabia in 2020
- Italy in 2021
The Italian presidency of the G20 officially began on 1 December 2020.
Further informations are available on the focus.