G20: Piyush Goyal To Chair Trade Ministers' Meet On August 24-25 As Global Economy Faces Headwinds

G20 Summit: Multilateral trade for global growth and leveraging technology for paperless trade will be among the major topics that will be discussed during the meeting.

More than 300 delegates are set to converge in Rajasthan's Jaipur for the meeting of trade and investment ministers from G20 countries on August 24-25, accoridng to an official release. Apart from trade ministers, heads of international organisations like the World Trade Organisation and officials of invitee countries will also attend the meeting to be chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

Trade ministers from the US, the UK, China, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, EU, Republic of Korea, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, France, Bangladesh, Egypt, Netherlands, Oman, Singapore and UAE will be attending the G20 meeting. 

The working group meeting, under India's G20 presidency, comes just three weeks ahead of the main summit, which will be held in New Delhi on September 9-10.

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The opening day will see a video message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, setting the stage for discussions on global trade and investment issues.

Multilateral trade for global growth and leveraging technology for paperless trade will be among the major topics that will be discussed during the meeting. Inclusive and resilient trade will also among the topics deliberated by the G20 trade ministers. Three sessions will be held during the two-day meeting.

The meeting comes at a time when the global economy is facing headwinds amid a challenging macroeconomic outlook. The outcomes from these deliberations will provide guidance on accelerating global trade and investment, the release said.

Ahead of the G20 trade ministers' meet, the fourth and last Trade and Investment Working Group (TIWG) meeting will be held on August 21 and 22, 2023, in Jaipur.

During this meeting, senior trade and investment officials from G20 members, invitee countries and global organisations will discuss proposals made by the Indian presidency across five priority topics -- Trade for Growth and Prosperity, Resilient Trade and GVCs, Integrating MSMEs in World Trade, Logistics for Trade and WTO Reform.