A MEETING OF THE G20 DEVELOPMENT WORKING GROUP GETS UNDERWAY IN LOS CABOS

• The meeting is being held during the Mexican presidency of the G20 with the goal of finalizing the recommendations that will be delivered at the Leaders’ Summit.

• Working meetins will be held with B20 President Alejandro Ramírez and with civil society.

The Mexican presidency of the G20 has convened a third meeting of the Development Working Group (DWG) from May 3-5 in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur.

Attending the meeting are representatives from all of the G20 member countries and international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, African Development Bank, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Also attending are the invited countries of Chile, Colombia, Sweden, Benin and Cambodia, the latter two in representation of the African Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), respectively.

At this meeting, the recommendations on development issues to be presented to the G20 leaders at the June Summit for their adoption will be determined. This includes the priorities proposed by Mexico (inclusive green growth, food security and infrastructure) as well as the other issues that have been under discussion by the G20 since the Seoul Summit in 2010, including social protection, private investment and job creation, human resource development and trade.

Regarding inclusive green growth, the DWG is making progress in establishing guidelines for good practices in developing countries. In the area of food security, it is working on a cooperation agreement to make small farmers in developing countries more competitive. As regards infrastructure in less developed countries, specific recommendations are sought on reducing the perception of risk in investing in infrastructure in less developed countries, and there is a Mexican initiative to develop best practices in developing sustainable urban mass transportation.

The members of the DWG will have the opportunity to discuss development issues with representatives of the private sector and civil society. The first meeting was attended by B20 representatives, led by their president, the Mexican businessman Alejandro Ramírez, and focused on identifying the contributions of global businesses to the development agenda, and specifically to food security and green growth. The second meeting will be attended by representatives of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundations, Mary Robinson and ONE Campaign, all of whom will contribute to the work of the G20.

This meeting of the Development Working Group is chaired by Ambassador Rogelio Granguillhome Morfin, Executive Director of the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID) with the assistance of officials from the ministries of Finance (SHCP); Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) and Agriculture (SAGARPA), and the National Ecology Institute (INE).