Yogyakarta, 16th September 2022 -
Today on 16th September 2022, Presidency of Indonesia held the final meeting of the G20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG), following the 3 series of meetings in January, March, and June. The 4th meeting took place in Yogyakarta from 15 to 16 September and was attended by several delegates from member countries and international organizations, in person and virtually.
The 4th meeting focused on finalizing deliverables of the G20 infrastructure agenda for endorsement at the upcoming Finance Minister and Central Bank Governor (FMCBG) meeting in October. IWG has six agendas, namely sustainable infrastructure investment, social inclusion and subnational disparities, post- pandemic transformative infrastructure, Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) indicators, digital infrastructure and InfraTech, and governance of the Global Infrastructure Hub (GI Hub). Deliverables on the G20 Blueprint for scaling up InfraTech financing and development as well as the QII indicators have been published at the G20 official website. The documents are expected to be inputs for G20 member countries in enhancing digitalized infrastructure and quality infrastructure investment.
Preceding the main event, on 14th September 2022, the Presidency held a seminar on "Advancing Sustainable and Inclusive Infrastructure Investment" in collaboration with the G20 Engagement Groups, namely Business 20/B20, Think 20/T20, and Urban 20/U20. The joint seminar aimed to encourage the implementation of IWG deliverables in promoting subnational infrastructure development by presenting case studies and how they can be replicated. Therefore, infrastructure development should not only focus on quantity, but also sustainability, inclusiveness, and ability to reduce subnational disparities.
The speakers who are representatives of G20 member countries and engagement groups presented various perspectives, initiatives, and experiences in financing sustainable development and leveraging private investment, especially for local/subnational governments. In the second session, the experience of the Special Region of Jakarta Province became a case study of collaborative efforts in building inclusive infrastructure at regional level.
Engagement groups and participants were expected to provide input and support to the implementation of the IWG deliverables, especially related to the framework on leveraging private sector participation to scale up sustainable infrastructure investment and the Policy Toolkit to mobilize funding and financing for inclusive and quality infrastructure investment in regions and cities. The two deliverables were finalized on the 1st day of the meeting. In addition to that, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) presented the final compendium of case studies on financing digital infrastructure development to gain views from member countries.
On the 2nd day meeting, the GI Hub presented an update of the InfraTracker 2.0 tool used to identify trends in infrastructure investment in G20 member countries and guest economies, which can be applied to prepare infrastructure planning. Member countries also discussed options of the GI Hub governance which will be presented to the FMCBG in October 2022.
The completion of deliverables from the G20 infrastructure agendas of the Presidency is the result of a good collaboration with all of G20 member countries and international organizations. Despite of non-binding and voluntary nature, it is expected that the deliverables can be applied by member countries and provide visible contributions and benefits to the achievement of the G20 theme, "Recover Together, Recover Stronger". This also becomes the commitment of Indian Presidency next year as highlighted in the priorities and agenda presented at the end of the 4th IWG meeting.
