File Photo: A snap shot of Egypt s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry speaks during live conversation with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Thursday 7 December, 2023. Photo courtesy of CSIS
Egypt is participating in the 2024 G20 meetings per an invitation from the Brazilian presidency for this year.
This is the fourth time for Egypt to participate in these meetings following 2016, 2019, and 2023.
According to the Brazilian agenda for the G20 meeting, Wednesday and Thursday will witness the first ministerial meeting of the Sherpa Track, led by the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira.
During the visit, Shoukry will deliver speeches in a session addressing the G20's role in tackling international crises and another on global governance reforms, Abu-Zeid said.
Egypt’s top diplomat will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts of the G20 countries and the countries invited to the meetings.
The G20 foreign ministers’ meeting will address pressing issues, including the situation in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the forum’s website.
G20 tracks
The G20 operates differently from traditional international organizations, and according to two parallel work streams: the Sherpa Track and the Finance Track.
The Sherpa Track is led by personal emissaries of G20 leaders, overseeing negotiations, discussing agenda points for the summit, and coordinating the majority of work.
The Sherpa Track, comprising 15 working groups, two task forces (for launching the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty and the Global Mobilization against Climate Change initiatives), and a Bioeconomy Initiative, addresses a wide array of issues.
The Finance Track deals with strategic macroeconomic issues and is led by member countries’ finance ministers and central bank heads.
On this track, ministers and central bank heads meet at least four times a year (two of these meetings alongside the World Bank and IMF general meetings). There are seven technical groups in the Finance Track, as well as a Task Force.
Egypt’s plans for G20
During the G20 meetings, Egypt plans to highlight the priority issues in Egypt, Africa, and other developing nations, according to Ambassador Ragy El-Etreby, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s representative at the G20.
Among these topics will be enhancing food and energy security, developing international debt governance, ensuring international financing for development, and reforming the multilateral financial, monetary, and trade system.
In a press conference with President Lula da Silva last week, El-Sisi confirmed that he will visit Brazil to attend the G20 summit in November.
This will be El-Sisi’s first visit to Brazil since taking office in 2014. It aims to expand trade between both countries, which has increased since the Mercosur agreement came into force in 2017, according to the Brazilian Presidency.
Lula said in the presser that Brazil will count on Egypt's support to make Brazil's presidency of the G20 a success, especially in the aforementioned two initiatives that will be launched this year.
Short link: