First Arab Nation to Take Over the G20 Presidency

An informal group of the European Union and 19 countries with representatives from both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund is known as G20. As G20 is not an organisation but a forum, hence there is no permanent secretariat, management, or administrative structure. The first-ever Arab nation to take over the Presidency of G20 was Saudi Arabia from Japan and the G20 summit was held at the Capital of Saudi Arabia Riyadh on 21st, 22nd, 23rd November 2020.

G20

The G20 membership is made up of the world’s most advanced and biggest emerging economies, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the world’s population, 85 percent of global GDP, 80 percent of global investment, and more than 75 percent of global trade. The G20 functions as a forum rather than an organisation. As a result, it lacks a permanent secretariat as well as an administrative and management structure. A ministerial-level convention was formed after G7 started to invite both developing and developed countries when there was the Asian Financial Crisis from 1997 to 1999. During the 2008 Financial Crisis, the world recognized the requirement for a new consensus-building process at the topmost political level. The G20 leaders agreed to meet once a year, to begin with. The European Union, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, China, Canada, Germany, France, India, Italy, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Turkey, South Africa, the United Kingdoms and the United States. Every year, one country assumes the ‘G20 Presidency.’ Argentina presided over the G20 summit in 2018, and Japan did so in 2019., which was followed by Saudi Arabia in 2020.

Saudi Arabia in G20

Saudi Arabia has stepped in for Japan as the President of G20 and hosted the G20 Summit in Riyadh on 21st, 22nd, and 23rd November 2020. There were some aims of the G20 Presidency which were as follows:

• People are empowered when conditions are created in which all people, particularly women and youth, can live, work, and thrive.
• Protecting the planet by encouraging collaborative efforts in order to protect the global pool of common resources.
• Creating New Frontiers by implementing long-term, bold strategies for sharing the benefits which can be obtained from innovations and technological advancement.

There were a lot of challenges which were faced by Saudi Arabia as the president of the G20 such as:

• Saudi Arabia being the President of G20 must work to mitigate global risks such as climate change, demographic issues such as rising life expectancy, low birth rates, and ageing societies, all of which necessitate coordinated global efforts. However, rising nationalism and populism may stymie multilateral progress.
• It has advocated for a drive of liberalisation, including greater rights for women. However, incidents such as the journalist Jamal Khashoggi being murdered drew harsh international condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
• As a result, G20 members should put pressure on Saudi Arabia to change its policies regarding human rights responsibilities and to hold Saudi Arabia accountable because of these issues.

Conclusion

The G20 membership includes the world’s most advanced and largest emerging economies, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the world’s population, 85% of global GDP, 80% of global investment, and more than 75% of global trade. The G20 is more of a forum than an organisation. Saudi Arabia is regarded as the first Arab country to take control of the G20 presidency from Japan, and the G20 summit was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on November 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, 2020. There were some aims that Saudi Arabia put up when it was the President of G20. A lot of challenges were also faced by Saudi Arabia after becoming the President.