ANKARA
The G20 agenda in 2015 under the Turkish presidency will include engagement groups on energy and tourism, as well as side projects for businessmen, labor unions, youth groups, think-tanks and women, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan has said.
Babacan was addressing ambassadors from G20 countries in Ankara on Tuesday.
Turkey assumed the G20 presidency on Dec. 1. The first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Deputy Governors' level meeting will be held in Istanbul between Feb. 8-9.
Babacan added that the World Tourism Organization wants to organize a meeting under the Turkish presidency later this years.
As the official agenda of G20 is already heavy, Turkey will open the floor for unofficial groups like the B20 – a working group for the business world.
Other bodies will be the L20 for labor unions, T20 for think-tanks, Y20 for youth organizations, C20 for NGOs and civil society and the W20 for boosting the participation of women in business and entrepreneurship.
"Three I's" of G20 Turkey
Moving on to the content of the Turkish G20 agenda, Babacan said they divided had topics into three, under the title "Three I's", standing for inclusiveness, implementation and investments.
Babacan stated that first "I" – inclusiveness – included two main pillars, which are "intra-national inclusiveness" and "international inclusiveness."
Emphasizing that they will give special importance to small and medium-sized enterprises, Babacan said most employment was created by SMEs in G20 countries. Therefore, he said, under every agenda item of G20, they will take the needs of SMEs into account.
The Deputy PM said they talked to the International Chamber of Commerce to establish an international, permanent platform for SMEs to raise their voices globally.
Babacan added that under the international dimension of inclusiveness pillar of G20 agenda, they will discuss the situation of "low-income developing countries."
"Under every G20 agenda, we should ask ourselves whether their needs are adequately covered and addressed?," said Babacan, adding that inequality and healthcare issues will also be discussed during the meetings.
Naming “implementation” as the second "I", Babacan pointed out that many countries are already aware of the importance of structural reforms and prepared their agendas for the coming period.
"They [the OECD and IMF] expect that if G20 countries implement what they already committed, over 1,000 promises, then global growth is expected to be 2 percent higher than usual scenario in about five years’ time," Babacan said.
The leaders' summit will be held in Antalya on November 15-16, 2015.
