Bogor, West Java. Indonesia will hold the G20 presidency in 2022, a year earlier than arranged, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has said.

"Indonesia has been slated earlier to hold the G20 presidency in 2023. However, Indonesia will also chair the Asean in the same year so we negotiate with India about this matter," Retno said in news conference at the Bogor Palace on Sunday.

She was referring to the 10-member regional grouping in Southeast Asia. By coincidence, India also intends to postpone its turn in the chair rotation of the group to 2023, she said.

"Now that we have been confirmed of the presidency in 2022, Indonesia will join the G20 troika as soon as next year," she added. The troika comprises the previous, current and upcoming chairs.

The current G20 presidency is held by Italy, which took the role from Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

The group, which comprises 19 individual countries and the European Union, convened on Sunday to discuss an array of issues from poverty alleviation and women's empowerment to climate change and the global coronavirus pandemic.

The summit was hosted by Saudi Arabia but held virtually through video conference during the pandemic. It focused on the global efforts to tackle the pandemic and cooperation for immunization against coronavirus.

President Joko Widodo told his fellow G20 leaders to ensure affordable access to safe and effective Covid-19 diagnostic tests, therapeutic treatment and vaccine, the minister said.

The proposal was adopted in the leaders' declaration announced on Sunday.

"We are taking immediate and exceptional measures to address the Covid-19 pandemic and its intertwined health, social and economic impacts, including through the implementation of unprecedented fiscal, monetary and financial stability actions. We recognize the role of extensive immunization as a global public good," the declaration reads.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/indonesia-to-assume-g20-presidency-in-202