At the end of a first joint meeting of G20 Trade and Digital Economy Ministers on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June in Tsukuba, Japan, the ministers identified ways to “further strengthen G20 trade and digital economic policy cooperation”.
In their joint declaration, the ministers call for the development of the digital economy, while identifying safeguards such as sustainability, inclusion or data protection.
The statement revisits the challenges facing the international trading system that can undermine economic growth, for which the 2019-2020 forecasts have been revised downwards.
The text calls for a healthy business environment, promoting “market-driven”, non-discriminatory, transparent and predictable investment decisions.
Structural problems exist in “some sectors”, note the G20 ministers in the declaration, so efforts must be made to ensure level playing field for all.
The text points to the need to strengthen disciplines against support for both industry and agriculture and to promote access to certain agricultural markets.
Recognising the unequal distribution of the benefits of growth between countries as well as between citizens, the declaration underlines the need to promote trade and investment that contributes to “sustainable and inclusive” growth.
The declaration notes recent initiatives and other work initiated as part of the WTO's work. It refers to the sense of urgency surrounding the reform of the WTO (see EUROPE 12271/16). In order to increase transparency, members also undertake to fulfil their notification commitments.
The ministers also discussed the issue of data flows, which is dear to the EU, and the concept of ‘Data Free Flow with Trust’, which aims to ensure the protection of privacy in the context of the development of the digital economy (see EUROPE 12242/1). “National and international legal frameworks must be respected”, the statement notes, promising that countries will cooperate to encourage the interoperability of different frameworks and stressing the need to ensure consumer “confidence” in the digital economy.
In a separate statement, the Japanese Presidency also notes that “the wide majority of the members” call for the duration of the Forum to be extended beyond its current mandate, in order to continue its work on excess steel capacity. Statement: https://bit.ly/2MI1zEq (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)