BRICS should coordinate better in G20

23 October 2015 Alexandra Katz, specially for RIR

Ahead of the upcoming G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, members from academia and
business and diplomats met in Mumbai to discuss economic and geopolitical issues to be
highlighted at the summit, and provided an agenda for economic growth and geopolitics

The first ‘Think 20’ (T20) regional meeting titled "Turkey, India and the G20" organized by a
think tank, Gateway House, in collaboration with the Economic Policy Research Foundation
of Turkey (TEPAV), opened a new chapter in India's participation in the G20.

The G20 is a multilateral platform for global economic and financial decision-making that
has shaped a model for global cooperation to promote economic recovery and growth. While
meetings of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors are an important mechanism
to determine ways to strengthen the global economy and reform international financial
institutions, the T20 is a newer engagement group which serves as an “ideas bank” for the
G20, bringing together experts, diplomats and think-tanks.

The discussions in Mumbai dealt with issues from multilateral institutions to sustainable
growth and infrastructure investments, as well as inclusive business models, trade technology
and skills development. Observations and recommendations from the T20 were sent to the
Turkish G20 Presidency to be considered at the G20 summit on 15-16 November in Antalya.

Growth agenda

Ambassador Bozkurt Aran, former Permanent Representative of Turkey to the WTO and now
Director of the Center for Multilateral Trade Studies at TEPAV, highlighted the main goals
and priorities of Turkey´s G20 Presidency. In an interview with RIR he said these include
helping to enable inclusive and robust global growth through collective action, addressing
issues related to low-income developing countries (LIDCs) that should be heard by the other
counties and giving Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) a bigger platform in
economic growth.
Bozkurt Aran. Source: Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations

Raghuram Rajan, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in his keynote address
that emerging economies should develop their own capacity to provide new ideas to the
global financial system, and “hold the pen” that will write a more inclusive agenda. Speaking
of the global financial crisis, Rajan said it was shifting from place to place to emerge as what
he called “a global game of musical crisis.” He stressed the need for sustainable rather than
just rapid growth and importance of governments and multilateral institution getting involved
in infrastructure financing.

A discussion on emerging markets and the impact of geopolitics on business had Mohandas
Pai, Chairman of Manipal Global Education and former CFO, Infosys Technologies, saying
that emerging markets were the drivers of change and soon would become the world's
dominant economic powers, through innovation. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, a market analyst,
spoke of the importance of China and India and emphasized that emerging markets should be
given their due place in global platforms. Seshadri Chari, Executive Director, Forum for
Strategic & Security Studies, pointed out problems of inequality of wealth and human
resources and the importance of sustainable growth.

Geopolitical concerns

According to Akshay Mathur, Head of Research at Gateway House, there are many issues,
from pluri-lateral agreements like the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP),
Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that are of large
concern for India and other emerging markets.

“The geopolitical issues have to do with terrorism, migration, national security. Some are
related to the turmoil in Syria and Iraq. There is turmoil in parts of Africa, India, Afghanistan,
Pakistan. These issues are not addressed at G20, but we need to consider the impact of
geopolitics on business and the economic environment,” Mathur said.

Raghuram Rajan. Source: Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations

Sanctions against Russia are another example of issues beyond formal discussions. “Issues
like sanctions do not really get discussed on G20 platform but again it is economic sanctions,
it hurts the global economic architecture,” he said.

Aran said, since Russia had become a major stakeholder in the Syrian crisis, it has to be taken
into account at G20 summit. “Those things would be discussed, I suppose, and if the leaders
would not come with some kind of understanding, the crisis will continue,” Aran said, adding
that in times of crisis, G20 leaders’ meetings become more important.

When asked about Russia's participation in G20 this year, considering tensions between
Russia and Turkey over Syria, John Hartley, CEO of Future Directions, a not-for-profit
research institute in Australia, said its participation is essential as Russia is a significant
country.

“The problem is that we tend to take a very short view on many issues. G20 policies prepare
us very much for the future and the future is much greater that any small issue that is
occurring right now,” he added.