Leaders of the 20 biggest world countries (G20) will gather under one roof on Saturday to discuss the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic and how to handle recovery once the virus is under control.
The meeting will be held virtually due to the pandemic. It will be chaired by Saudi Arabia. US President Donald Trump is likely to participate in the virtual G20 sessions.
As per the details, purchases and global distribution of vaccines, drugs, and tests in four low-income countries will be the main parts of the agenda. G20 will be urged by the European Union to invest $4.5 billion to help. The EU is likely to propose a treaty on pandemics to be ready for the future. “An international treaty would help us respond more quickly and in a more coordinated manner,” the chairman of EU leaders Charles Michel will tell the G20 on Sunday.
“The main theme will be to step up global cooperation to address the pandemic,” said a senior G20 official participating in the summit.
While the global economy is recovering from the depths of the crisis earlier this year, momentum is slowing in countries with resurging infection rates, the recovery is uneven and the pandemic is likely to leave deep scars, the International Monetary Fund said in a report.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that vulnerable are poor and highly indebted countries in the developing world, which are “on the precipice of financial ruin and escalating poverty, hunger, and untold suffering”.
G20 will present a plan to extend a debt servicing moratorium for developing countries by six months to mid-2021. European members of the G20 are likely to focus on more. “More debt relief is needed,” Michel told reporters on Friday.
The G20 is made up of 19 countries and the EU. The 19 countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, and the US.
