ISTANBUL
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said on Monday that Turkey wants to open a new forum called “W20” to increase the number of women in employment during Turkey's G20 presidency.
Speaking at the B20 Turkey inaugural meeting in Istanbul, Babacan said 2015 will be an important year for Turkey as it takes on both G20 and B20 presidencies.
"Turkey aims to bring a new impetus to the G20 and B20 process by developing an inclusive approach to contribute to the global recovery and robust growth," Babacan said.
The G20, a key multinational group for tackling the world’s economic challenges such as growth and unemployment, is a collection of the globe’s largest economies which account for around 90 per cent of global GDP, two-thirds of the world's population and 80 percent of international trade.
Turkey's presidency of the G20 group of major economies started on Dec. 1, with a commitment to fight global inequality. The country will host the 2015 G20 summit in Antalya, a southwestern province which is home to the country’s biggest international sea resort.
"Inclusiveness has both domestic and global dimensions," said Babacan, adding that in terms of the domestic dimension, they will support small and medium-sized enterprises, follow up commitments on strengthening gender equality in employment as well as addressing youth unemployment.
"What can we do more to increase the effect of women in the business world? The G20 member countries should work closely with the non-member states to solve the problems regarding the low female employment rate," said Babacan.
"We have not come to an agreement with all of the 20 member states yet, but in recent months, we have been insisting on a W20 forum," he added.
Stating that a new forum for women will be beneficial, he said: "The increasing labor force participation rate of women means increasing production in that country and increasing growth."
The G20 summit will bring together political and economic leaders from 20 major economies, including 19 individual countries – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States – plus the European Union.
Turkey took over the presidency of the G20 from Australia. China will preside over the organization in 2016.
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