SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION TO THE INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON THE G20 AND DEVELOPMENT

• The G20´s role in international development was discussed.

 • Representatives from about 15 countries submitted recommendations on infrastructure, food security and green growth.

An international seminar on G20 and the development agenda: infrastructure, food security and green growth was held in the Foreign Ministry.

The seminar provided an opportunity for discussion among the actors involved in international development, such as civil society organizations (CSOs), universities, research centers, international organizations and the G20 member governments. 

About 150 participants from Australia, Saudi Arabia, Benin, Canada, Colombia, Spain, United States, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Africa, Russia and Mexico attended the seminar.

The Foreign Ministry’s Chief of Staff, Gonzalo Canseco; and Director General for Civil Society, Miguel Diaz Reynoso, opened the seminar. They were followed by the Executive Director of the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID), Rogelio Granguillhome, who reviewed the progress made by the Development Working Group (DWG) during the Mexican presidency of the G20, highlighting the results of the recent meeting of the DWG that was held in Los Cabos from May 3- 5.

In a plenary session, the Director for Sustainable Development and Human Settlements Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), José Luis Samaniego, proposed several guidelines for sustainable development, such as internalizing the environmental and social costs and benefits of economic decisions, a more informed and participatory process for policy-making, and strengthening education, culture, science and technology with the goal of educating human capital in sustainability.

Three roundtables were held after the plenary session to discuss the DWG’s priorities: infrastructure, food security and green growth. Each topic was discussed by a DWG government representative, an expert and a CSO moderator.

The debates at the roundtables led to proposals regarding the need for coherent policies on green growth, biofuels, access to land, the role of the private sector in agricultural innovation, water management and access, the role of women in agriculture, access to broadband and the importance of implementing sustainable transportation projects that take into account the real needs of society.

In his closing remarks, AMEXCID Executive Director Rogelio Granguillhome offered to deliver the recommendations to the DWG member countries. He applauded the ever stronger dialogue between civil society and the G20ivil society and the G20.