As the G20 Leaders Summit is being held in Brisbane, Australia this weekend (15^th and 16^th November 2014, Australian EST) I thought it appropriate to briefly cover a common question… What is the G20 Summit ?
 
The G20 brings together leaders of the world’s major economies to discuss, and cooperate on a global basis to, the largest economic challenges and important issues affecting the global economy. Key focus of the 2014 G20 meeting is the need to build global economic resilience, lift economic growth and increase employment opportunities.  
 
G20 group comprises a mix of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies, and represents about two-thirds of the world’s population, 85 per cent of global gross domestic product and over 75 per cent of global trade. SOURCE: G20.org
 
G20 membership comprises 19 countries plus the European Union. The official G20 countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.
 
To ensure that discussions at the G20 Summit reflect interests of a wide range of nations, each year the G20 president (leader of the host country) invites guest countries to participate in the years meetings. In 2014, Australia as the host has invited Mauritania and Senegal from Africa, Spain from Europe, Myanmar and Singapore from Asia, and close neighbor New Zealand.
 
In addition to the world leader meetings, the G20 also works with leading international bodies including the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation, Financial Stability Board, and the World Bank as they contribute to the development of global policies on key global issues such as trade, growth and jobs.

The G20 Summit is the premier forum for its members’ international economic cooperation and decision-making, and has met annually since the G20 was formed in 1999 amid the Asian Financial Crisis.
 
In order to gain structured input from the public, the Input to the G20 is also obtain from several “engagement” groups (from outside governments and international bodies) which bring together people from different sectors of society to present their ideas to the G20 leaders. These groups are the Business 20 (B20), Civil Society 20 (C20), Labour 20 (L20), Think 20 (T20) and Youth 20 (Y20).
 
In their 5th Anniversary Vision Statement in September 2013, G20 leaders said they would strengthen engagement with the B20, C20, L20, T20 and Y20. Australia is taking forward this vision during its G20 presidency.
 
“The G20 is an apt model for global cooperation in today’s world. Its response to the global financial crisis is a testament to the impact G20 members can make when working together. The G20 introduced trillions of dollars in fiscal stimulus packages worldwide, which saved or created millions of jobs that would otherwise have been destroyed. It also put in place measures to limit the collapse of financial markets and helped maintain consumer and business confidence. Over the past five years, the G20 has framed the world’s efforts to restore growth and build the resilience of financial institutions and national economies. It led the world out of an economic crisis and through the initial stages of the recovery”. SOURCE: G20.org
 
For complete coverage and further information on the G20 Leaders Summit please visit www.g20.org