Indonesia has kicked off the first of more than 150 meetings under its Group of 20 chairmanship that begins this month with an emphasis on inclusiveness by inviting nonmembers and representatives from various regional groups.

The G20 Sherpa Meeting was a hybrid event held on Tuesday and Wednesday and opened by Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto. It was attended by 38 delegates consisting of 19 members of the G20, nine invited countries and 10 international organizations. Representatives from 23 countries attended the meeting in person.

The G20 is holding two lines of discussion of issues in the lead up to the summit next year, namely the financial track, where finance ministers and central bank governors discuss global economic, fiscal and monetary issues, and the sherpa track where officials discuss issues outside of the financial realm. The first finance track meeting will be held in Bali on Thursday.

Retno said the sherpa meeting was very important to set the tone of the work mechanism and expected deliverables for Indonesia’s chairmanship, which will last until November next year.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo previously said that Indonesia wanted to use its presidency to strive for the aspirations and interests of developing countries in an attempt to create “a more just world order”.

Read also: With G20 presidency in hand, Jokowi turns focus to COP26

Indonesia invited nonmember countries representing Africa, Latin America and ASEAN and small island countries from the Pacific and the Caribbean to Wednesday’s meeting. It was the first time in the history of the group that a president involved nonmembers to represent their regions in the meeting.

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