Bill Gates, co-chair and trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks at the sub-forum entitled “Investment for the Poor” during the 2013 Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan Province Saturday. Gates noted that the foundation is aiming at developing strategies to help the poor around the world under close cooperation and strong support with China. Photo: IC

 The egos of G20 members were comprehensively massaged at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Saturday as a BFA panel gave the G20 a glowing review, despite raising concerns about its effectiveness and representation.

The three-day BFA kicked off on Saturday in Boao, a coastal town in South China's Hainan Province.

With Russia preparing to hold the eighth G20 Summit in St. Petersburg in September, much has been made of whether the G20 is too exclusive to have real global interests in mind.

In a BFA session entitled Global Governance Reform and G20, discussion revolved around the G20's capacity to act globally, given its restrictive memberships and whether it lacks the ability to ensure its member countries implemented policy agreements. 

US Under Secretary of State Robert Hormats pointed out that the G20 has shown its capacity to evolve to face developing global problems.

"The G20 already includes all the BRICS countries as well as high-income nations. The rotating president can also invite members from organizations such as the African Union to ensure representation by non-member countries," said Hormats, adding that although it could not bind other countries, the G20 could provide impetus for policies in institutions such as the UN and the IMF.

Long Yongtu, China's former vice minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation, emphasized that the G20's reputation would be based entirely on its effectiveness. He gave the example of the WTO having lost much of its effectiveness as it took on more members. Long believed that the restricted nature of the G20 gave it the flexibility to produce real results and to show the world that international organizations were still relevant.

Debate also covered whether the G20 should act as a negotiating platform but most panelists rejected the idea, with Australian Trade and Competitiveness Minister Craig Emerson saying that the peer pressure exerted within G20 to achieve consensus was powerful enough to ensure its ends. He pointed to the "standstill agreement" in 2008 where G20 countries agreed not to implement trade restrictions.

Looking ahead to expectations for St. Petersburg, Russian G20 Sherpa Ksenia Yudaeva said that the concern shown for the G20's actions by non-members was proof of its continued relevance.

By taking on board the needs of non-member countries and providing answers to their problems, the G20 will be able to fulfill the vision of being a platform which drives ideas forward and helps other organizations get binding policies over the finish line.