TEPAV hands over T20 presidency to Chinese think-tanks As a member of the “T20 Troika” TEPAV will work in collaboration with Germany and China in 2016
ANTALYA- Turkey’s G20 presidency ended with the summit held in Antalya on Nov 15-16, 2015, where Turkey handed over its T20 presidency to three Chinese think-tanks.
Güven Sak, T20 President and TEPAV Executive Director; Zang Yuyan, Director of the Institute on World Economy and Politics (IWEP) and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS); Zhang Haibing, Deputy Director of the Institute on Comparative Economic Studies and Shanghai Institute on International Studies (SIIS) and Wang Wen, Deputy Dean of the Chinese Renmin University Chongyang Financial Studies Institute attended the handover ceremony.
TEPAV Director said during his speech at the ceremony that the priority of the G20 in previous years was the stability of financial markets, whereas the promotion of the development agenda took the lead in Turkey’s 2015 presidency. Sak noted that innovation and technology topped the agenda to this end, adding “During the Chinese presidency, we can continue to build together a stronger G20 agenda for developing countries compatible with the UN’s Sustainable Development Targets.”
Participants from China, on the other hand, expressed their will to cooperate intensively with TEPAV during their presidency.
The T20 Troika…
TEPAV will continue to cooperate on T20 studies as a troika member in 2016. The Troika consists of 2015 President TEPAV as well as think-tanks from 2016 President China and 2017 President Germany. Within this framework, consecutive meetings will be held in Germany on December 8-9 and in China on December 14-15, where TEPAV will share its own initiatives and experiences.
T20 Antalya…
TEPAV has carried out a series of events on November 12-16 within the framework of the Antalya G20 Summit, attended by more than 400 people from 35 countries. One such event, the “Think 20 Summit – Antalya Conference on Global Policy Platform” focused on the fulfilment of the sustainable development targets after 2015 as well as the role of G20 to this end.”
The Innovation-20 Summit, aimed to bring technology and innovation-related issues to the G20 agenda, underlined the potential impact of new technologies on sustainable growth and development, as well as on the other aspects of the technological transformation.
Other significant events were the “Refugee Crisis and the G20” and the “World SME Forum” conferences.
Think 20 (T20)
T20 was set up as a group of think-tanks from G20 countries with a view to develop analyses on issues in the G20 agenda and support the generation of concrete and sustainable policies by the G20. T20 started off in Mexico with the participation of think-tanks from 15 countries, while a single major conference was organized in Russia. Australia systematized the initiative for the first time with events organized and materials printed. Six events were held in Australia in total, five of which took place within Australia.
The difference TEPAV, 4th president of T20, made
TEPAV organized a total of 17 events, including 9 closed workshops and 8’ public conferences. The events were held in Istanbul, İzmir, Ankara and Antalya as well as Ottawa, Berlin, Shanghai, Mumbai, Washington D.C. and Addis Ababa. 340 opinion leaders from 22 countries and 146 organization were brought together at the closed workshops alone.
The geographical span, number of events and the diversity of attending organizations were boosted significantly compared to the previous years. In parallel to Turkey’s emphasis on inclusivity throughout the G20, think-tanks from different territories and perspectives were given a voice in the T20.
Joint research platform
A website was launched for the first time for T20, publishing 15 reports and 22 blog entries drafted by 17 different organizations. TEPAV’s Centre on G20 Studies contributed with 11 reports and 14 blog entries.
New research areas
T20 had hitherto been carrying out research and debates with a focus on a handful of priority issues on the G20 agenda. Focus areas in the term presidency of Australia had been identified as global governance and finance, liberalizing trade, financing infrastructure, and development.
Within the framework of Turkey’s priority on inclusivity for its term presidency, T20 expanded the agenda items to include Global Governance and Financial Stability, Infrastructure, Employment, Trade and Investments, Sustainable Development and Energy Governance.
Technology and Innovation and Internet Governance were also launched as T20’s agenda for the future.
