Think20 Mumbai - Gateway House

The G20 is the premier multilateral platform for global economic and financial issues. It has a rotating presidency, and this year, Japan is the president of the G20. In that role, it is hosting a number of meetings with government officials (G20), business leaders (B20) and experts from think tanks (T20).

The T20 is an official sub-forum of the G20 process, responsible for contributing ideas and research to the G20 on global economic issues.

Think-20 (T20) was first initiated by the Mexican presidency in 2012 and has been continued by subsequent G20 presidencies. It serves as an “ideas bank” for the G20 by organizing the analysis of global think tanks and high-level experts on relevant international economic issues. Think-20 recommendations are synthesized into policy briefs and presented to G20 working groups, ministerial committees and leaders’ summits to help the G20 deliver concrete policy measures.

The Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Institute for International Monetary Affairs (IIMA) and The Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) have been appointed by the Japanese government to lead the think tank activities for the presidency year. They have also roped in other Japanese think tanks and academic institutions into the official T20 process.

This meeting is in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, EXIM Bank of India, MUFG Bank, and Council for Global Problem-Solving (CGP).

The Think20 Inception Conference held on December 4-5, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan, kicked off the research process for the leading think tanks that work on issues of global economic governance. Their efforts will culminate in the T20 Summit to be held in Tokyo in May 2019.

Gateway House will host the Think 20 roundtable in Mumbai in collaboration with these officially designated Japanese T20 think tanks. This is the only meeting that will be held outside Japan in 2019. This roundtable is a T20 Japan associated event.

Gateway House has hosted T20 meetings during the 2018 Argentine presidency, the 2017 German presidency, the 2016 Chinese presidency, and the 2015 Turkish presidency of the G20. These meetings brought together experts from think tanks working international economic governance and foreign economic policy issues, business leaders and relevant government officials from India and the G20 countries to Mumbai.

For Gateway House, the meetings were the outcome of an institutional focus on geoeconomics as well as on-going research on international economic relations and global financial architecture.

This meeting in Mumbai is an important indicator of the intellectual partnership and shared research objectives between Japanese and Indian think tanks, while presenting an opportunity to bring up new ideas and deliver concrete policy suggestions that can help Japan achieve its vision for G20 in 2019. It will focus on examining how the global financial system can be aligned with the sustainable goals, rise of fintech, needs of the small and medium enterprises, and geopolitical challenges to globalisation.

Agenda for T20 Mumbai 2019

28 January, 2019 | Monday

8.30 am – 9.30 am: Morning Keynote Session
Topic: Japan, India and the G20

Objective: This opening session will be dedicated to understanding Japan’s priorities for the G20, and the expectations and commitments from India and other G20 countries for 2019 and beyond.

9.45 am – 11.00 am: Roundtable 1
Topic: Aligning Global Financial System with Sustainable Goals

Objective: To develop recommendations for global guidelines on sustainable finance

11.10 am – 12.30 pm: Roundtable 2
Topic: Designing a Global Governance framework for Fintech

Objective: To develop recommendations for global regulations on Fintech

12.30 pm – 1.30 pm – Lunch Break

1.30 pm – 2.45 pm: Roundtable 3
Topic: Reconfiguring the Global Financial System for SMEs

Objective: To develop recommendations for addressing the financial needs of the SMEs

3.00 pm – 4.15 pm: Roundtable 4
Topic: Examining the Geopolitical challenges to Globalisation

Objective: To examine how the domestic political economy of nations and geopolitical developments are challenging globalisation

4.15 pm – 4.35 pm: Closing Session

Think20 Policy Brief - Japan G20 2019

Abstract: There is a critical need to reconfigure the international financial architecture to meet sustainable goals. For making informed decisions on allocating resources for sustainable business and economic development, it will be essential to value the cost of natural capital. This practice is difficult since assigning a monetary value for quantifying natural inputs such as water, air, trees and climate is context-specific and requires data. Natural capital valuations can help in calculating the true cost of capital and thus differentiate sustainable projects from unsustainable ones. The G20 should encourage the development and adoption of processes, instruments and regulations needed for valuing natural capital.

You can download the PDF version of ‘Mainstreaming Natural Capital Valuation’ on the T20 Japan 2019 website.

Purvaja Modak is Researcher, Geoeconomic Studies and Manager, Research Office at Gateway House.

Akshay Mathur is CEO and Director of Research, Gateway House.

K.N. Vaidyanathan is Advisor and Adjunct Senior Fellow, Geoeconomic Studies, Gateway House.

Learn more about the G20

T20 Japan

Japan assumed its G20 Presidency on 1 December 2018. The Japanese government has established a secretariat, chaired by Dr. Naoyuki Yoshino, Dean, Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI). In this role, ADBI is aided by the Institute for International Monetary Affairs (IIMA) and Japan Institute for International Affairs (JIIA).

T20 will hold debates and discussions supporting Japan’s G20 priorities, providing related policy suggestions to the G20 to help and ensure that the 2019 G20 Osaka Summit delivers on its development policy measures and G20 growth agenda. Japan’s G20 priorities are:

• 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

• An International Financial Architecture for Stability and Development/Cryptocurrency and Fintech

• Climate Change and Environment

• Economic Effects of Infrastructure Investment and its Financing

• Cooperation with Africa

• Social Cohesion, Global Governance and the Future of Politics

• The Future of Work and Education for the Digital Age

• Trade, Investment and Globalization

• SME Policy faced with Development of Financial Technology

• Aging Population and its Economic Impact + Immigration

Learn more about Japan’s T20

2019 T20 Chairs

Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)

ADBI provides intellectual input for policy makers in ADB’s developing member countries by conducting research with a focus on medium- to long-term development issues of strategic importance that affects the region and through capacity building and training activities. The objectives of ADBI are to identify effective development strategies and improve the capacity for sound development of the agencies and organizations engaged in development work.

The Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA)

JIIA is a comprehensive foreign policy and security think-tank. The Institute’s aim is to scientifically examine Japan’s foreign policy to provide a constructive framework for formulating policy, disseminating knowledge and information on international affairs, assist in shaping world opinion favorably toward Japan and ensuring the sound administration of Japan’s foreign affairs, and contribute to world peace and prosperity.

Institute for International Monetary Affairs (IIMA)

IIMA is a research institution specializing in international finance and monetary affairs. It aims to pass on to future generations the valuable expertise that had been inherited over more than a century by the Bank of Tokyo and to utilize such expertise in the public interest through high-quality research in the international monetary field and through international exchange of opinions.