PRESS RELEASE
Second Meeting of the Energy Sustainability Working Group held in Istanbul
The second meeting of the G20 Energy Sustainability Working Group (ESWG) under Turkey’s G20 Presidency was held in İstanbul on 25-26 May 2015. Representatives of G20 members, invited countries and international organizations attended the meeting. In the second ESWG meeting, the progress to date of the following five priority work areas of the ESWG was discussed: Access to energy for all with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa Energy efficiency Renewable energy Market transparency Inefficient fossil fuel subsidies During the ESWG meeting, delegates exchanged views on concrete deliverables for 2015 under the G20 energy agenda, in the light of the discussion papers and reports circulated by the Presidency. In this context, ESWG broadly supported the proposed G20 Energy Access Action Plan and exchanged views in order to further improve the Plan. Delegates also discussed the implementation of the G20 Energy Efficiency Action Plan and the ways and means of taking...
World SME Forum launched in Istanbul by G20 Turkish Presidency
World SME Forum has been launched as envisaged by Turkey’s G20 Presidency 23 May 2015 Istanbul – Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Ali Babacan today announced the official launch of the World SME Forum (WSF), a major new initiative to drive the contributions of small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) to global economic growth and employment. “The SME sector is vital to the world economy, and small business is the powerhouse of employment, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit,” said Mr. Babacan. “SMEs all over the world face hardships in accessing to long term finance and participation to global value chains. A central focus of the Turkish G20 presidency is to unlock the potential of SMEs to stimulate economic growth, trade and employment” he said. “Considering SMEs’ share in economic activity, it is important to overcome the bottlenecks they face for a more robust growth and employment. With the establishment of this Forum, for...
Second Meeting of the G20 Employment Working Group held in İstanbul
The second meeting of the G20 Employment Working Group (EWG) was held in İstanbul on 07-08 May 2015. The meeting was attended by the member countries of the EWG, international organizations and invited countries. Representatives of B20, L20 and T20 also attended to relevant sessions to reflect their views on the agenda items of the meeting. During the meeting, EWG delegates touched on a number of subjects; including cooperation with the other G20 work streams, progress on gender gap commitment, occupational safety and health, strengthening the employment services and the link between employment and education. The proposals regarding possible methodologies in monitoring the commitments were also discussed during the meeting in detail. Apart from these issues, the outputs of the World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES) World Congress 2015, held in İstanbul on 06-08 May, were presented by the representatives of WAPES. A day before the second meeting...
G20 Agriculture Ministers Met in Istanbul to Discuss Sustainable Food Systems
G20 Ministers of Agriculture met in Istanbul on 7-8 May 2015. This was their first meeting since 2011. Turkish G20 Presidency decided to organize G20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting to address rising challenges concerning food security. World population is expected to reach nine billion by 2050. This will increase the challenge for global food security and nutrition. Ministers, in their Communique, underlined their commitment to meet this challenge. They agreed that establishing sustainable food systems is essential to cope with growing challenges in food security. They also highlighted the importance of reducing food losses and waste which is a global problem. In their Communique, Ministers agreed that a G20 Action Plan on Food Security/Sustainable Food Systems will be prepared to be submitted for consideration at the Antalya G20 Leaders’ Summit. Ministers also invited FAO, IFPRI and other international organizations to establish a platform in measuring and reducing food loss and...
G20 International Tax Symposium
Turkish Ministry of Finance hosted “G20 International Tax Symposium” in Istanbul on 6-8 May 2015, bringing together representatives of governments, international organizations, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and academia. Nearly 300 participants from 60 countries attended the Symposium. The Symposium provided for a unique platform for international cooperation and coordination on tax matters, and ensured that low-income countries also benefit from the G20’s work on tax and other related agenda. The Symposium was inaugurated by the Turkish Minister of Finance, Mr Mehmet ŞİMŞEK and the Chair of OECD’s Committee of Fiscal Affairs, Mr Masatsugu ASAKAWA. Discussions at the Symposium focused on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project, transparency and Automatic Exchange of Information (AEoI) and ensuring capacity building by ensuring low income and developing countries participation in the international tax agenda. All these discussions at the Symposium demonstrated that there remains a widespread support for the G20/OECD tax agenda....
G20 Agriculture Ministers meet in Istanbul to discuss food losses and waste
THE PRESS RELEASE OF G20 AGRICULTURE MINISTERS’ MEETING The Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock will hold one of the most widely participated and the most important international organizations in the history of our Country in the field of agriculture as hosted by our Minister, H.E. Mehmet Mehdi EKER at The Grand Tarabya Hotel in Istanbul between the 6th and 8th of May, 2015. G20 Members (Turkey, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indıa, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the EU) represent 85% of the world’s economy, 70% of the global agricultural economy and the two thirds of the world’s population. This Meeting which will be organized with the initiatives of the Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock is also particularly important as it will be organized for the second time in the...
Press Conference on the Outcomes of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Washington DC, April 17
Mr. Babacan ‑ Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished members of the media, yesterday evening and this morning we had intensive meetings on our G20 Agenda. We reviewed the progress in our Work Program and we identified further work going forward. Last night we had a Working Dinner with Ministers from low‑income developing countries and we had a joint meeting of the IMFC and the G20 on IMF quota and governance reform. As usual, we first exchanged our views on recent global economic and financial developments, global outlook, and risks facing the global economy, as well as the appropriate policy response to challenges and risks. On the global economy, we noted that global recovery continues, although at a moderate and uneven pace. Lower oil prices are estimated to positively affect the global economy in total. On the other hand, volatility in exchange rates, prolonged low inflation, high public debt, and geopolitical...
Deputy Prime Minister Babacan addressed the annual Special High-Level Meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council
Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan attended the annual Special High-Level Meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with the World Bank, IMF, WTO and UNCTAD which took place in New York on 20-21 April 2015 where he delivered a keynote speech in the plenary session. In his address, Deputy Prime Minister Babacan touched on the global economic outlook, focusing on the growth trends of both major and emerging economies, as well as the role that G20 can play under Turkish Presidency in complementing the global efforts on...
The Second G20 Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting Concluded in Washington DC
On the margins of the IMF-WB Spring Meetings, G20 Ministers and Governors gathered in Washington DC for their second meeting under Turkish G20 Presidency. The meeting commenced in the evening of April 16th with the first session on “Global Economy and Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth”. This session allowed Ministers and Governors to review recent global economic developments since their last gathering in February in Istanbul and to explore the progress in monitoring the implementation of the commitments made in national growth strategies. Following this session, a joint G20 – Low Income Developing Countries Ministerial Working Dinner was held to facilitate a frank discussion among the participating countries. Simultaneously, G20 Governors at their working dinner focused on the “uncertainty and volatility”. In the morning of the April 17th, a joint G20/IMFC meeting was held on the IMF 2010 Quota and Governance Reform. After the conclusion of this...
G20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting
7-8 MAY 2015, ISTANBUL GENERAL INFORMATION The G20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting will be held on May 7-8 2015 in Istanbul, at the Grand Tarabya Hotel. ACCREDITATION Members of the press who wish to cover the meeting should fill in the application form and submit the documents listed below online via:http://g20.org.tr/g20press/form?type=foreign. The deadline for applications is 17.00 (GMT+2), May 4th, 2015. a) Members of the National Press should fill in the accreditation form and attach a copy of their press card and a photo. (Media members without this press card should apply with a letter of authorization from their media organization and a copy of their official ID cards.) b) Resident Members of the International Press in Turkey should fill in the accreditation form and attach a copy of their press card and a photo. c) Members of the International Press Coming from Abroad should fill in the accreditation form and attach...
