Indonesia concluded its 2022 Group of 20 presidency with the G20 Bali Summit in Nusa Dua. The 17th G20 Heads of State and Government Summit managed to defy the negative expectations, especially considering the palpable tensions between G20 member countries stemming from their different views on how to best respond to the war in Ukraine.

Many had feared the emergence of an irreconcilable split among 20 of the world’s biggest economies, which would then threaten to upend any cooperation at the global economic forum at the expense of billions of people around the world who relied on a unified G20 leadership.

Pulling off a successful gathering of so many world leaders, corporate kingpins and industry and finance chiefs on a small island full of tourists is telling of the enormous amount of work the host country put in.

The Indonesian government deserves hearty congratulations for an overall job done well. That the summit also constitutes a diplomatic win during a time of war is a clear testament to the achievements multiple stakeholders can make if they all pull together in one direction.

While some may suggest calling into question several choices that local organizers made, it is hard to fault them for delivering what observers are lauding as “a success on all counts”.

The fruits of the Indonesian presidency’s labor can be summed up by the key deliverable: the sprawling, 1,186-page G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration, several communiqués and chair summaries, as well as pages of notes and annexes detailing the work produced throughout the year.

Being able to appease all parties on the highly sensitive subject topic of the Ukraine war It is no small feat. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo even acknowledged that one specific paragraph on the war in the draft declaration had kept negotiators up all night on the first day of the two-day summit, whereas the rest of the document’s content and wording were in good order.

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