Ahram - The Brazilian government invited Egypt to participate as a guest in all G20 meetings during Brazil's presidency of the group, which started in December and will last for one year, Ambassador Ragy El-Etreby stated on Sunday.
Egypt's participation in the G20 meetings is the fourth of its kind since the establishment of the group and the second in a row after Egypt participated in the previous G20 meetings upon an invitation from the Indian presidency.
The latter culminated in the participation of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in the group's summit in Delhi last September.
The Brazilian invitation reflects the strong friendship and cooperation between the two countries, El-Etreby, assistant foreign minister for international and regional multilateral economic affairs, affirmed in a statement by Egypt’s foreign ministry, highlighting Egypt's regional and international significance and its influential role in major international economic issues.
El-Etreby chaired the Egyptian delegation in the meeting of personal representatives of G20 leaders, held last week in the capital Brasilia, where an action plan for the group was developed for the upcoming period. According to the statement, the action plan focuses on finding effective and innovative collective solutions to the structural challenges facing the global economy.
This includes policies to combat poverty and inequality, efforts to achieve sustainable development, development of international economic institutions, and optimal ways to transition to clean energy use to address climate change, the statement added.
He also pointed out that Egypt's current participation comes at a stage where the G20 is facing increasing challenges in light of the severe and consecutive crises the world has been experiencing since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These challenges, he said, extend from the repercussions of the war in Ukraine to the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza due to the continuous Israeli aggression.
El-Etreby indicated that the G20 countries collectively represent 80 percent of the global GDP, 75 percent of international trade volume, and 60 percent of the world's population, making them a crucial framework for making international economic decisions.
Since the launch of the G20 in 1999, finance ministers and central bank governors from the world's top 20 economies have been meeting annually to discuss economic cooperation.
However, the first G20 leaders' summit was not held until 2008, following the world financial crisis.
The countries comprising the G20 group are Saudi Arabia, Russia, the USA, the UK, China, the EU, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Turkey, and South Africa.
Brazil has recently announced the activities calendar for the G20, composed of more than 120 events distributed throughout the year in various host cities of the country.
The schedule includes 93 technical meetings, 26 videoconferences, 10 deputy ministers' meetings, and 23 ministerial meetings. Rio de Janeiro will host two summit meetings in November 2024: a Social Summit and a Heads of State and Government Summit, which will receive the leaders of the G20 countries and invited countries.
