Press Statement by the Global Governance Group (3G) on Its 12th Ministerial Meeting in New York on 25 September 2019

1             The Global Governance Group (3G) [1] held its 12th Ministerial Meeting in New York on 25 September 2019, on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). At the 3G’s invitation, the G20 Troika (previous, present and incoming Presidencies) – Argentina, Japan and Saudi Arabia – joined the 3G Ministers to discuss key challenges facing the international community and the G20’s efforts to address some of these issues. The annual meeting with the G20 stakeholders is part of the 3G’s efforts to promote a global governance framework that is more inclusive, accountable and effective.

 
2             Japan, in its capacity as the current G20 President, briefed the 3G Ministers on the outcomes of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Osaka (“Osaka Summit”) from 28 to 29 June 2019. The 3G Ministers noted the theme of promoting a free and open, inclusive and sustainable, human-centred future society. They welcomed the key outcomes from the Osaka Summit, including the G20’s reiteration of its commitment to pursuing strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth, and the adoption of the G20 Implementation Framework on Marine Plastic Litter that aims to significantly reduce pollution by marine plastic litter. They also applauded the G20’s resolve to addressing inequalities and to build a society capable of seizing opportunities, and tackling economic, social and environmental challenges.

 
3             The 3G Ministers commended the G20’s leadership in taking forward the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the G20’s support for developing countries in their implementation efforts. The Osaka Update underscores the G20’s collective and concrete actions to achieve the goals in the 2030 Agenda, which helps to ensure that “no one is left behind”. The 3G Ministers also welcomed the G20’s reiteration of its commitment to moving towards achieving sustainable universal health coverage according to national contexts and priorities.

 
4             At the meeting, amidst growing protectionist tendencies and trade conflicts, the 3G Ministers reiterated the importance of an open, predictable, rules-based international order, which includes the multilateral trading system as embodied by the World Trade Organisation, for continued growth, peace and prosperity. They welcomed this opportunity to convey their concerns to the G20 and the steps taken by the G20 towards greater inclusiveness and transparency.  In particular, they commended the active outreach efforts undertaken by Japan during its 2019 G20 Presidency. These included the briefings given by Japan on its G20 Presidency on the sidelines of United Nations meetings in New York, in particular, the fruitful engagement with then-Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Kono at the 11th 3G Ministerial Meeting in New York on 28 September 2018.

5        As Japan works towards the conclusion of its G20 Presidency this year, the 3G Ministers look forward to continuing their partnership with the G20 under Saudi Arabia’s Presidency in 2020, and welcomed Saudi Arabia’s early efforts to reach out to a broad range of stakeholders, including non-G20 members. They encouraged Saudi Arabia to continue the G20’s strong commitment to engage the 3G, as well as other regional and international organisations, in particular the United Nations. The 3G Ministers emphasised again the importance of inclusiveness at multilateral fora and for international organisations to have universal membership, in particular, when seeking to set global standards.

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25 September 2019

[1]  The 3G comprises the following Member States of the United Nations: Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Costa Rica, Finland, Guatemala, Jamaica, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, San Marino, Senegal, Singapore, Slovenia, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Vietnam.