Jakarta, 14 April 2022: Dr Lili Yan Ing, ERIA’s Lead Advisor on Southeast Asia met with Mr Reza Pahlevi, Director of APEC Negotiations and International Organizations of Ministry of Trade Indonesia from Indonesia’s G20 Trade, Investment, and Industry Working Group (TIIWG), together with Mr John Drummond, Head of the Trade in Services Division of the OECD Trade and Agriculture Directorate and Dr Rupa Chanda, Director of Trade, Investment, and Innovation Division of UNESCAP, to discuss trade, investment, and industry, particularly focusing on the TIIWG Priority Issue Number 4—Digital Trade and Sustainable Global Value Chains (GVCs), as a follow-up from the previous First G20 TIIWG Meeting in Solo, 30-31 March 2022.

In the meeting, Indonesia’s G20 TIIWG highlighted some points discussed and taken from the First G20 TIIWG Meeting: the importance of resilient global value chains and ensuring digital transformation shifting towards inclusive development. The G20 needs to ensure its roles in creating strategies for access to essential goods, including among others, health and medical supplies, critical inputs, or raw materials. Governments need to develop strategies to ensure investment in digital technologies and long-term solutions to improve supply chain resilience. In the digital transformation and digital trade, the G20 needs to ensure the development of industrial robots, automation, and artificial intelligent (AI); reduce the costs of adoption of technology, especially for developing countries; and bridge the skills gap by promoting efforts to improve preparedness for digital and AI technologies to achieve ‘development for all’. The meeting participants agreed that  trade, investment, and industry must be resilient, sustainable, and inclusive.

The upcoming TIIWG is proposed to be held in Solo by the end of June this year with three priorities: WTO reform, response to the global pandemic, and sustainable investment. ERIA and other international organization will support the success of the upcoming working group meetings.