Bali, 5 September 2022: The Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), and the Institute for Economic and Social Research – Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia (LPEM FEB UI) jointly launched the G20 Research Forum at the T20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia on 5 September 2022. The G20 Research Forum (GRF) has been set up with open membership for other international organisations, think tanks, and research organisations.

The GRF has been set up to provide well-researched inputs to the G20 process and its ministerial tracks, on the developmental issues before the members and non-members of G20. The T20 will be an important component of its research and policy inputs. GRF aims to undertake studies, organise brainstorming sessions, collaborate with governments and chairs of G20; and establish linkages with multilateral organisations such as WTO, World Bank, ILO, EIB, etc. for monitoring of policy outcomes of G20 statements and resolutions. The GRF will especially support the developmental agenda in the G20 meetings in the years ahead.

‘Since the G20 Presidency for the next four years will be on developing countries, I think it is very ideal to set up the agenda of the South or the agenda of developing countries within the Research Forum itself. And in the earlier session, on the first session this morning, my colleague Dr Chatib Basri mentioned that this is the time for G20 to shift more on development issues rather than focusing only on international finance issues,’ said Prof Bambang P. S. Brodjonegoro, Lead Co-chair of T20 Indonesia at the special session of the GRF in Bali.

Prof Hidetoshi Nishimura, President of ERIA, in his special remarks offered ERIA’s research and institutional capacities for the GRF, across the next several presidencies. ‘The need for a research forum that is the repository of all knowledge and decisions in the G20, and also supports the G20 ministerial process is both timely and necessary. As the next three presidencies will be leading the developmental agenda in the G20, ERIA will contribute to the mandate of the G20 Research Forum through its research and institutional resources,’ said Prof Nishimura.

‘We are very honoured that ERIA and its partner organisations will be contributing to the global governance process through the G20 presidencies in next few years. The coincidence of four developing economies taking over the presidencies from 2022 to 2025 can become an opportunity for materialising our direct inputs to G20 agenda and Ministerial processes through a dedicated Forum,’ he added.

The GRF will begin its active research and monitoring works for the G20 process by the end of 2022. To see the recorded live stream of the Special Session, please see it here: https://bit.ly/G20-RFL.

To see the full coverage of the summit, please watch our recorded live stream on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/T20Indonesia.