VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi is on a visit to Italy to attend the Group of 20 (G20) ministers meeting.

Prior to the series of meetings involving G20 foreign ministers in Bari and Matera, Minister Marsudi met her Italian and Canadian counterparts, Luigi Di Malo and Canadian Marc Garneau in Rome on Sunday (June 27).

During the meeting, Marsudi discussed the G20 presidency with Italian Foreign Minister Di Malo.

"Italy is holding the G20 presidency this year, and next year, it will be Indonesia's turn to hold the G20 presidency. We are committed to supporting each other's presidency," the minister stated via an audio recording sent to reporters by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Monday.

Both ministers concurred on discussing cooperation on trade, investment, vaccines, and several international and regional issues.

Meanwhile, Minister Garneau of Canada conveyed his support for Indonesia's presidency of the G20 in 2022.

In a bilateral setting, Marsudi and Garneau welcomed the negotiation process of the Indonesia-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement that has begun to take place.

"I also place emphasis on the importance of strengthening global vaccine cooperation that has become a concern for both Indonesia and Canada. Additionally, we discussed several regional issues that have become our shared concern," she explained.

At the end of her activities in Rome, she participated in a virtual coordination meeting with Chief of the National Development Planning Agency, Suharso Monoarfa, who will join her in the Joint Ministerial Meeting between the foreign minister and development minister on food security on June 29 in Matera.

She will then embark on a trip to the southern Italian city of Bari to participate in the meeting with several G20 foreign ministers as well as those of other countries.

Members of the G20 comprise Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the Great Britain, and the United States.

The G20 meeting will lay emphasis on several issues, including strengthening multilateralism, global order, food resilience, and sustainable recovery in developing countries, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The group is projected to be able to lead international response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it expects discussions on international response and strategy to be more prominent during the meeting. Issues around equitable access to vaccine and diagnosis, as well medical treatment are the key points in the health and economic focus.

The ministers are also expected to discuss long-term recovery strategies for the economy, environment, and health after the pandemic in a bid to build resilience against future health crises. (Antaranews)