VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi believes that Multilaterism (cooperation between more than two countries) is the best solution in handling crises in the world.

"Multilateralism requires trust. Therefore, we have no choice but to strengthen strategic trust and mutual respect among all of us and uphold the values ​​of multilateralism," Retno said in her opening remarks for the 2nd Sherpa Meeting in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai (Mabar), East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Sunday (10/7/2022).

Retno continued, that the Sherpa Meeting is an important part to provide policy input for various agendas carried out by G20 countries.

The issue of rising food and energy prices is a major concern for many countries today. Failure to address the food and energy crisis will bring the world into a humanitarian catastrophe as many countries, especially developing and poor countries, will be hit hard.

"We are happy to see the strong commitment from various countries (G20 members) to collaborate to strengthen global food and energy security," said Retno.

Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy (Coordinating Minister for the Economy), Airlangga Hartarto, through a virtual connection, also emphasized the importance of global cooperation to face the existing challenges.

According to the United Nations (UN) Food Program, the increase in food prices has put around 323 million people in the world at risk of having difficulty meeting their needs.

"The G20 can take steps to protect those most vulnerable by addressing disruptions to food production, supply chain and trade," said Airlangga.

As emphasized by Retno, Airlangga also emphasized the importance of trust and respect for one another from G20 member countries in conducting dialogue and reaching consensus to face the existing global challenges.

"Our job as Sherpas is to maintain conducive working relationships, an essential ingredient for turning complex technical and policy advice into bold and ambitious actions for our heads of state," he said.

The Second Sherpa Meeting in Labuan Bajo was attended by all G20 member countries, with 19 G20 members attending physically and 1 virtually. Also present were 6 invited countries and 9 international organizations.

Both Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi were both present to give virtual remarks.

The 2nd Sherpa meeting in Labuan Bajo was held back-to-back with the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting in Bali which took place 7-8 July 2022, and the G20 Finance Deputy and Central Bank level meeting on 13-14 July 2022 in Bali.

The meeting was held on 9-13 July 2022. Labuan Bajo was chosen as the venue to promote economic recovery and promote the area as one of the premium tourist destinations for foreign tourists. (RRI)