The Chair of B20 Indonesia Shinta Kamdani shared her story when attending the World Economy Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2022 in Davos, Switzerland, on May 23-25. Shinta admitted that she was very impressed following the forum which was attended by many world leaders, from government officials to business people.
The forum, which was finally held again after being delayed for 2 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was considered very important because it discussed the most pressing economic problems. Starting from joint efforts to recover from COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine crisis, discussions on accelerating the energy transition, economic inclusion through digital innovation, to sustainable health systems, "WEF 2022 is very important and relevant because the world's geopolitical and geoeconomic situation is quite tense and must be resolved," said Shinta in a statement received in Jakarta, Saturday.
One of the things that became the focus of attention at the forum was the Russia-Ukraine crisis which has further exacerbated the global economic situation because it has had an impact on the stability of the food, energy and financial sectors. World business leaders also emphasized the importance of human values related to the impact of the war between the two countries.
As Chair of B20 Indonesia and also Coordinator of Deputy Chairperson III for Maritime Affairs, Investment and Foreign Affairs of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shinta admitted that she was very happy because several B20 topics were indeed aligned with Indonesia's G20 priority topics such as global health architecture, energy transition, and digitalization were the main topics of discussion at WEF 2022.
"Important matters discussed regarding the energy transition, for example, were shown commitments to form various initiatives such as the First Movers Coalition of 50 companies that will reduce carbon emissions of heavy industry and the long-distance transportation sector which is responsible for 30 percent of global emissions and the CEO of the Climate Leaders Alliance which agreed to take decisive action to reduce emissions," she said.
What's more, he continued, B20 Indonesia has formed an Energy, Sustainability & Climate Task Force whose task is to provide policy recommendations to encourage concrete steps for G20 countries in transitioning the world to become greener at various levels, such as making developments in carbon trading and encouraging innovation in alternative energy production.
Meanwhile, in the field of digital innovation, it can be seen how global leaders also emphasize the importance of utilizing new technologies such as the potential of emerging technologies to help global governments and companies overcome the impacts of climate change, including reversing economic disparities, managing and anticipating the impact of pandemics in the health sector, to learn from coronavirus case.
"Through the sophistication of digital technology, big data, artificial intelligence and quantum analytics, we can identify and accelerate decarbonization efforts," she said.
This, she said, is very important and relevant to the steps taken by B20 Indonesia through the Digitalization Task Force and the Energy, Sustainability & Climate Task Force in encouraging policies that stimulate low-carbon economic activity.
Shinta further said that the most important thing that should not be ignored is the importance of overcoming health problems which is the root of the emergence of this global economic crisis. The gap in health infrastructure, especially access to vaccines, must be overcome together in order to anticipate future health crises.
"In WEF 2022 it was agreed to launch the Accord for a Healthier World supported by Pfizer to provide medicines and vaccines on a non-profit basis to 45 low-income countries as well as the MoU Platform for Health and Healthcare with Saudi Arabia for a value-based global health movement and people - centered," she said.
It doesn't stop there, on the sidelines of WEF 2022, B20 Indonesia is hosting a business and investment forum at the Indonesian Pavilion to invite global CEOs to get involved and attend the B20 Summit or B20 Summit on November 13-14.
This momentum was used to discuss shifts in the global economy, trade and investment in Indonesiathe post-pandemic world as well as promoting Indonesia's investment opportunities covering various sectors such as eco-tourism, renewable energy and the construction of the archipelago's new capital city.
In addition, representing Indonesia's B20, Shinta was also lined up to talk about the "Strategic Outlook on ASEAN" which emphasizes ASEAN's progress and achievements in efforts to recover from the pandemic and place itself proportionally in a situation of increasingly intense geopolitical-geoeconomic tension.
At the forum, Shinta conveyed a traffic parable to describe the condition of ASEAN. Green indicates positive developments that need to be continuously encouraged, yellow means a warning about the impact of ASEAN's external and internal disruption, and red light means it needs to be stopped.
According to him, ASEAN has so far shown a positive record in its efforts to enhance regional trade integration and encourage stronger investment and development cooperation. However, differences in interests and positions of each ASEAN country can be a barrier to producing maximum output.
ASEAN is very strategic for competition between multilateral trade and development initiatives such as RCEP, BRI, CPTPP and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). ASEAN is also assessed need stop the situation that was carried away by the economic and political tensions of the major powers.
Furthermore, Shinta and the Minister of Trade of Indonesia Muhammad Lutfi together with the ministers of the economy from various countries were also invited to share their thoughts on the economic partnership between Asia Pacific and Latin America. The two regions are very strategic in supply chain governance and need to intensify their cooperation.
"In each forum session, I share how public-private collaboration in Indonesia is getting closer and being able to work together in utilizing systemic change and innovation to open possible approaches to support the three priority issues that we are promoting, and jointly find the best steps for improvement. the quality of health, politics and the economy that is just, inclusive and sustainable," he emphasized.
Finally, B20 Indonesia is ready to become the right platform for world business leaders to collaborate, rise up, and work together to restore the global economy and health after the pandemic in order to create a stronger, just and inclusive world order. On the occasion of WEF 2022, Shinta also invited the business community to attend the Indonesia B20 Summit in Bali in November.
