CONCLUSION OF THE THIRD MEETING OF THE G20 DEVELOPMENT WORKING GROUP IN LOS CABOS

• The meeting ended successfully; a report including the group’s recommendations will be presented at the Leaders’ Summit in June.

• The group will work to ensure that their recommendations have an impact on reducing poverty and promoting sustainable growth in less-developed countries.
The G20 Development Working Group (DWG) met for the third time under the Mexican presidency in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, on May 3-5.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the G20 member countries, the invited countries (Chile, Colombia, Spain, Sweden, Benin and Cambodia) and international organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

During 12 working sessions, the DWG reviewed the work done over the course of this year and drafted a report that will be presented by the Sherpas to the G20 leaders at the Los Cabos Summit in June.

This report highlights the work done during the Mexican presidency on the priorities proposed by Mexico (inclusive green growth, food security and infrastructure) and in other areas that have been on the group’s agenda since 2010.

Regarding inclusive green growth, the group decided on a set of instruments that will assist the developing countries, particularly the lower-income ones, to implement public policies that lead to sustainable development. It also laid the foundation for a program that will provide better access to private capital to finance "green" policies.

In food security, progress was made on important initiatives such as ways to encourage private sector investment to benefit the most vulnerable countries. It was also decided to consider implementing public policies to improve the productivity of small farmers in developing countries.

On the issue of infrastructure, a Mexican initiative on a set of best practices in developing sustainable urban mass transport was approved.

In other areas, the group agreed on platforms for sharing knowledge on tropical agriculture; social protection programs and job skills. These platforms will enable countries like Mexico to share, easily and in a timely fashion, their experiences and successful programs with less-developed countries worldwide.

The group held two substantive dialogues with the private sector and civil society representatives, focusing on issues of mutual interest in development. In the first meeting, the Mexican businessman Alejandro Ramirez, president of the Business20 (B20) Organizing Committee, presented the recommendations of the B20 on green growth and food security, which led to an exchange of ideas on the contributions of the global business sector to the development agenda. At the second meeting, representatives from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundations, Mary Robinson and ONE Campaign shared their contributions to the work of the G20.