Taking place at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center (BNDCC) on Nov. 13 and 14, the B20 Summit was initiated by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN Indonesia), and was attended by more than 3,300 delegates consisting of 2,000 CEOs, business leaders from 65 countries and several heads of state.

In her opening remarks, B20 Indonesia chair Shinta Kamdani  said that the conference, which carried the theme of "Advancing Innovative, Inclusive, and Collaborative Growth", had been supported by more than 1,200 members of the Task Force and Action Council, as well as members of the International Advocacy Caucus representing more than 15 industrial sectors.

Shinta also highlighted that this year, 34 percent of Indonesia's B20 Task Force/Action Council members were women, demonstrating Indonesia's ongoing commitment at B20 to promote women's empowerment and inclusion. Reflecting the emphasis on inclusivity in Indonesia's B20 process throughout the year, there was a diversity of both speakers and audience members in attendance, with 100 speakers from more than 30 countries.

“This forum is global in nature, and we take our role in bringing together different groups of stakeholders very seriously. Through the assistance of delegations from around the world, I am happy to say that we have collectively formulated our priorities in B20 Indonesia into 25 policy recommendations and 68 policy actions," she said.

All of these recommendations and policy actions, Shinta continued, were based on the current conditions of the global community, starting from the pandemic, rapid digitalization, more inclusive global value chains, and overcoming the effects of climate change, as well as other issues that drive the need for new, more just and more inclusive value systems.

Indonesia's B20 priorities are also aligned with its Group of 20 priorities, which emphasize a sustainable energy transition, strengthening the global health architecture and advancing digital transformation.

"For this reason, we formulated three areas of breakthrough, namely innovation for equitable post-crisis growth, inclusion of MSMEs [micro, small and medium enterprises] and vulnerable groups for sustainable development, and collaboration between developed and developing countries for strong and sustainable growth," Shinta explained.

These three B20 priority areas are reflected in action with the overarching aim of driving a better and more sustainable future. B20 Indonesia, she added, supported the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations General Assembly in every breakthrough.

At the end of the summit, B20 Indonesia prepared the B20 Final Communique, a document summarizing all the policy recommendations to be submitted to the G20 Summit. It is hoped that the G20 will adopt the recommendations in order to achieve the progress that is currently being fought for.

On the same occasion, B20 Indonesia host and KADIN Indonesia chair Arsjad Rasjid said that during this year's presidency, B20 Indonesia was committed to providing concrete, actionable results that could be continued by the next B20 presidency to bring about a significant impact on G20 countries.

"This year's B20 Summit takes place amid intensifying geopolitical turmoil, as well as concerns that globalization has failed to deliver equitable benefits. Not to mention the undeniable challenge of climate change, which is perhaps the most pressing of all. To that end, B20 Indonesia’s priority focus this year, as described by Mrs. Shinta, is to promote innovative, inclusive and collaborative growth," he said.

The three priorities, Arsjad continued, had special meanings for Indonesia, which is very diverse but can firmly unite.

“Today, through the B20 Summit, we are challenged to work together to support a fragile economy so that it can bounce back while ensuring that peace and prosperity will always be accessible to all."

Arsjad noted the importance of getting out of the old ways and comfort zones in order to innovate, not only in terms of technology but also in collaboration, mindset and policies as the world is facing new challenges, which require appropriate solutions to generate inclusive growth.

“For decades, globalization has driven increased productivity and produced tremendous prosperity for some, but it is undeniable that not all levels of society benefit equally. For this reason, we must come up with innovative solutions to accelerate inclusive growth in an environmentally friendly, sustainable and collaborative way across sectors," he said.

In the face of such enormous challenges, Arsjad encouraged collaboration and action from the public and private sector to use its influence and impact so that they can jointly achieve the goal of inclusive and sustainable growth. As a basic framework, he suggested that all these major steps be guided by the five Ps: Peace, Prosperity, People, Planet and Partnerships.

Legacy Program

Throughout Indonesia’s G20 presidency this year, B20 Indonesia is committed to providing concrete and actionable results, which will have a sustainable impact that can be continued by the next nation to hold the B20 presidency.

For this reason, B20 Indonesia not only produced policy recommendations and policy actions as a result of the work of six Task Forces and one Action Council, but also developed a series of sustainable and long-lasting legacy programs.

Indonesia's B20 legacy program has three key elements. First, the legacy program is an innovative and unique solution in responding to global problems in order to provide added value. Second, the legacy program is based on collaboration through active cooperation between G20 countries, which will be the key in realizing the program. Third, the legacy program aims to have a real and sustainable impact on making systematic changes for various global communities.

The formulation of the four legacy programs ensures that it is able to answer global issues raised in the three priority agendas, namely green transition; economic inclusivity through digitalization; and equitable access to health.

For the green transition, the legacy program prepared is the Carbon Center of Excellence that serves as a knowledge hub and practice-sharing center to develop the voluntary carbon market as an alternative source of financing.

As for inclusive growth and digitalization, the B20 Wiki was developed as a support system for MSMEs through Wiki Learn, Wiki Do and Wiki Scale. Another related legacy program is One Global Women Empowerment (OGWE), which will empower women entrepreneurs as well as increase digital literacy, capital and working environment security.

Meanwhile, for health priorities, the Global “One Shot” Campaign aims to provide relevant infrastructure for mitigating future health crises through the involvement of the global business sector in providing access to vaccines and clinical research.

Arsjad encouraged the business world to use the B20 forum to share information and technology, as well as to develop innovative strategic actions.

He emphasized that B20 Indonesia not only to provided space for the interests of a group of global business leaders, but also for groups of MSMEs, as MSME empowerment is one of the important issues voiced by B20 Indonesia.

"B20 also needs to encourage the formulation of both fiscal and non-fiscal targeted and effective business stimulus, especially during the recovery period, for sectors that have large potential such as renewable energy, battery ecosystems and electric cars, to businesses in the circular economy,” said Arsjad.

To date, the B20 legacy programs have received support from multinational companies and multilateral organizations that are involved in major B20 work in the form of involvement as signatories as well as active involvement in a series of work and meetings of the Task Forces/Action Council and the International Advocacy Caucus as a form of global collaboration through B20 Indonesia.

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