Female Ministers Play Vital Roles in Indonesian G20 Summit

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani accompany President Jokowi in delivering press statement, Wednesday (11/16) at the media center of the Indonesian G20 Summit at BICC, Bali province. (Photo by: PR/Rahmat)

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi have played vital roles in the organization of the Indonesian Presidency’s G20 events for the past year with the former in charge of the finance track and the latter in charge of the sherpa track.

The two ministers shared a hug after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo officially handed over the G20 Presidency to India, which concluded the Indonesian G20 Presidency.

Sri Mulyani and Retno along with other stakeholders have worked tirelessly to make the G20 events successful amid the increasingly tense global geopolitical situation.

“Thank God, we have just concluded the G20 Summit held two days in a row. It was closed by the President, producing a declaration of G20 leaders. This is an extraordinary achievement because having a declaration means that all G20 leaders have made an agreement,” Sri Mulyani said in a post on her personal Instagram account @smindrawati, Wednesday (11/16).

Retno echoed a similar sentiment on the organization of G20 meetings under the Indonesian Presidency.

“Thank God, despite all challenges and divergent views, at least in terms of events, not even one G20 event had to be cancelled this year,” she said when appearing as a guest on Podkabs, Cabinet and Cabinet Secretariat’s podcast aired on Cabinet Secretariat’s YouTube channel.

“The G20 has a finance track and a sherpa track, which is more focused on macroeconomy and development and we support each track. The Finance Minister is certainly on the finance track, while I am on the sherpa track,” Retno said.

Retno also stated that as a co-worker and a close friend, she and Sri Mulyani often had discussions on the preparation for and progress of the G20 Presidency.

“[We discussed] how much [progress] has been made, what must be strengthened, and so on. However, since we have been friends for a long time, it was easier to communicate,” she remarked. (FID/MAY/RAH/RF/UN) (DH/MMB)