In the past few years, G-20 summits were dominated by news of differences over climate changes and other issues. The same happened in the recent conference in Osaka. In the G-20 conference, more than 37 officials take part. These include presidents, prime ministers and other officials of the partner countries. This summit also includes observers from international organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is a conference where big economic powers meet and propose future suggestion to boost up the world economy.
The main purpose of the conference was to negotiate on the global economic crisis as a result of the trade war between USA and China. Many people believe that forums like G-20 are responsible for economic inequalities and global crisis. Currently, the Trade war between China and USA is at its peak. The USA is the world’s largest economy while China is the 2nd largest economy of the world. The other growing economies are raising questions about the ongoing trade war between the two giants.
In the G-20 conference, Russia, European Union, and India have openly raised concerns on the trade war between China and USA. Addressing these concerns both Donald Trump and Xi Jin Ping stated that officials of both the countries are conducting negotiations and the issue will be resolved in coming months. G-20 summit also focused on the rising role of E-commerce in business activities. It was decided to reform the rules of The World Trade Organization to make it in accordance with the current advancements in global trade. The USA believes that current WTO rules are being manipulated by China. That is why the USA urged on reforming WTO. Other participants including China also favored the reformist agenda. Only the future will tell us how much WTO can be reformed.
The attendees of the G-20 conference also discussed the role of the digital economy and artificial intelligence. Prime Minister of Japan Mr. Shinzo Abe proposed an Osaka Track for digital governance. This proposal involves moving of digital Data freely around the borders. It negates the confinement of information in a single location. This suggestion will help in de-centralizing information technology. However cyber threats can endanger this plan. Complete cybersecurity will be required to implement this plan.
French President Emmanuel Macron raised the issue of Climate change and global warming. France openly Challenged USA’s views on Climate Change. Possibly French President was trying to divert the attention of other attendees from its (France’s) hypocritical role in Libya.
Concluding it all the summit was full of differences regarding opinions. However, the positive news is that both the USA and China disclosed that trade talks are undergoing and soon the trade war will be averted. We can hope that the conference may bring the desired results and uncertainty on a trade war will go away. Besides this, the participants were also agreed on the promotion of science and technology. However, the conference did not focus on China and Saudi Arabia’s human right abuses. China’s use of force in HongKong and Saudi role in Yemen was also not discussed. The US-Iran rift could also not make its place in the G-20 conference. Also, the Russia-Ukraine tussle remained unaddressed in the current G-20 conference. As expected representatives of the UK and European Union willingly ignored each other to avoid talks on Brexit.
We can say that only trade and Science were the main focus of this giant conference. Reforming the rules of WTO is also a positive consensus by the G-20 conference.
Related: US-CHINA TRADE WAR – HOW GULF COUNTRIES WILL SUFFER?
