Infrastructure, work and the economy on the G20 agenda in Washington

This week’s agenda in Washington, D.C. includes meetings, events and talks between experts, senior officials and representatives of engagement groups such as the B20, C20 and W20. The finance ministerial meeting begins tomorrow.

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Femi Oke, journalist; Adolfo Rubinstein, Minister of Health of Argentina; Mabel Van Oranje, founder of Girls Not Brides; Julia Gillard, Director of Global Partnership for Education; Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile; Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of Unicef, and Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank, discuss the importance of preserving human capital.
The G20 Finance Track begins its official activity tomorrow in Washington. These meetings are held during the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, which are attended by specialists, political leaders, businesspeople and global economic leaders.
The centrepiece of the G20’s agenda this week is the Second Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, which begins tomorrow evening at IMF headquarters. Beforehand however, there will be other events that will address issues such as the progress made and the work that remains concerning the 2018 G20 priorities.
Official activity for Argentine G20 officials in Washington began early this week. On Tuesday, G20 sherpa Pedro Villagra Delgado and Finance deputy Laura Jaitman took part in a roundtable discussion at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, and today they attended a workshop organized by the Brookings Institution. In addition, Health Minister Adolfo Rubinstein was part of an event today organized by the World Bank about the importance of preserving human capital, which also included former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore, and others.
Tomorrow morning, official G20 activity will begin with the Third Meeting of Finance Deputies, also at IMF headquarters. Senior technical officials will coordinate the agenda that will reach the discussion table of the global economic leaders at the ministerial meeting.
In the evening, the 55 delegation leaders, which include 22 finance ministers, 18 central bank governors, and eight international organization leaders, will begin the finance ministerial meeting with a working dinner. The discussion will continue on Friday, focusing on the challenges to the global economy, infrastructure and the future of work, among other issues.
Thursday’s agenda also includes a panel discussion at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC) on the private sector’s role in infrastructure and what the G20 can do. Panellists will include Pedro Villagra Delgado, Argentine G20 sherpa; Neil Herrington, USCC Vice President for the Americas; Ariel Sigal, Chief of Staff at the Argentine Ministry of the Treasury; Mario Blejer, B20 representative; Laurence Carter, Senior Director for Infrastructure, PPPs, and Guarantees at the World Bank; and Enrique Cristofani, President of Banco Santander Río Argentina, who will discuss this priority of the Argentine G20 presidency and the progress made thus far.
The B20, the engagement group that brings together the international business community, will also hold a series of meetings. Tomorrow, it will address infrastructure and financing growth. Also, it will hold an informal session with members of the press at 5.00 pm, Washington, D.C. time, with Daniel Funes de Rioja, B20 chair; Mario Blejer, Vice President of Banco Hipotecario Argentina and Jorge Mandelbaum, President of CIPPEC, an Argentine think tank. Finally, on Friday its participants will discuss issues such as trade and investment, integrity and compliance.
Other G20 engagement groups will also be participating at other events tomorrow. The C20, which brings together NGOs, will participate in a panel discussion on infrastructure and transparency at the Civil Society Policy Forum, organized by the World Bank. The W20, which focuses on women’s issues, will be represented on a panel with the Alliance for Financial Inclusion and the Global Banking Alliance for Women by its chair, Susana Balbo.

 

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