Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma is expected to attend the Group of 20 (G20) Leaders' Summit in Hangzhou, China, at the weekend.
The summit, to be held from 3 to 5 September 2016, will be held under the theme: "Towards an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy”.
China, as the current President of the G20, has identified specific priority areas that are aimed at addressing current global economic challenges and are intended to give a focus to the work of the G20 during 2016.
They include breaking a new path for growth, more effective and efficient global economic and financial governance, robust international trade and investment and inclusive and interconnected development.
The G20 leaders are expected to discuss these specific priority areas during the summit.
South Africa is a member of the G20, which consists of 19 countries, plus the European Union (EU) as the 20th member.
G20 members have been meeting regularly since 1999 to discuss global economic policy coordination.
The G20 was conceptualised to stabilise and strengthen the global economy by bringing together the major advanced and emerging market economies.
South Africa's priorities in the G20 for 2016 include strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth, decent employment, efficient and responsive economic infrastructure, increased investment in infrastructure, reducing illicit financial flows through coordination of international tax, among others.
An important part of South Africa's G20 strategy is the outreach to Africa. As the only permanent African member of the G20, South Africa has used its participation to raise issues of concern to Africa with other G20 members.
In addition, development is an important priority for South Africa in the G20. In this regard, South Africa serves as a Co-chair of the G20 Development Working Group.
President Zuma said ahead of the summit: "Our participation in the G20 is to provide a strategic foresight in establishing an economic and international policy platform that will drive and negotiate the best possible outcomes for South Africa, Africa and the developing world.”
While in Hangzhou, President Zuma is expected to have a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jingping as well as meet leaders of the BRICS nations, who annually meet on the margins of the G20 Summit.
It is also expected that a Trilateral Meeting between South Africa, Chad as Chair of the African Union and Senegal at Chair of NEPAD will take place on the side-lines of the summit.
President Zuma is also expected to interact with representatives of the Business 20 (B20).
Following the conclusion of the G20 Summit, President Zuma will travel to Guangzhou where he will attend the 2nd Investing in Africa Forum on 7 September 2016. – SAnews.gov.za
