G20 TAPS INTO INNOVATIVE IDEAS TO SPUR POST-PANDEMIC RECOVERY

As the president of G20 this year, Saudi Arabia is leading the charge with innovative ideas to spur global economic growth in a post-pandemic era.

In September, the G20 labour and employment ministers issued a joint declaration to boost global employment, which included an appendix highlighting Saudi Arabia’s leadership in the establishment of the G20 Behavioural Insights Knowledge Exchange Network, developed by the Riyadh Behavioural Insight Centre for Labour Market Policies.

Saudi Arabia, of course, will host the G20 Leaders’ Summit from 21 to 22 November in Riyadh. The authorities have already hosted hundreds of meetings and conferences in the kingdom and virtually since the virus outbreak in March.

The Saudi presidency’s key agendas are empowering people, shaping new frontiers and safeguarding the planet, under the banner “Realising Opportunities for the 21st Century”. Combined, they aim to create social and economic equality and sustainable growth.

As such, the Saudi initiative to create a G20 Behavioural Insights Knowledge Exchange Network, is part of the overarching Saudi ambition to develop inclusive economic growth ideas.

“Under the G20 2020 Saudi Arabian presidency, we will establish a focused Behavioural Insights Knowledge Exchange Network, facilitated by the Riyadh Behavioural Insight Centre for Labour Market Policies,” the G20 Group said in a joint statement.

“The establishment of this network is intended to spur further development and encourage collaboration among G20 members in this area by leveraging existing knowledge and expertise in behavioural insights and further developing it to assist labour market policy-makers in addressing the complex and diverse challenges facing G20 labour markets.”

The network will meet once a year and focus on raising awareness of behavioural insights, facilitate regular exchange of knowledge, and provide an online repository where members can compile and share behavioural-based ideas and experiences.

In addition, the network will “provide a dedicated platform for sharing best practice in the field of behavioural insights in labour market policymaking, intertwined with occupational health and safety and social economics,” the G20 said in a statement.

Separately, B20, a group representing the G20 nations’ private sector, also released new recommendations in August to jumpstart global economic growth by focusing on often neglected areas that can unlock growth. 

The B20 Group’s latest joint statement calls on the “G20 to do everything in its power to safeguard public spending, including education budgets around the world to respond to the health crisis and lead a recovery with resilience, while ensuring that there is a gender lens applied to the budgets.”

It also recommended the establishment of a Global Social Protection Fund, which would allow developing countries to provide social protection systems and universal healthcare services to its citizens.

Governments should also allocate 15-20% of its gross domestic product to boost education infrastructure, they recommended.

“Immediate suspension of debt payments until the end of 2021 in order to finance domestic responses to COVID-19 through investment in education, health and other public services,” the group stated. “There also needs to be an emergency renegotiation of debt servicing so that no country has to cut spending on essential public services in order to service debts.”

Other recommendations included eradicating gender and identity-based discrimination, encourage STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning and amendments to employment and working conditions with teachers’ unions.

Another key recommendation, which is similar to Saudi Arabia’s own ambitions, is to implement incentives to businesses and small and medium enterprises that encourages apprenticeship to enable transitions of learners from education into sustained skilled employment.

The B20 Group also called on the G20 nations to invest more in new technologies such as the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence to ensure business continuity in a whole host of industries, which are vital to the economy.

“Investments in technology should guarantee the human rights of individuals and communities, while protecting the environment,” the group noted. “Focused investment aimed at building the skills required for the emerging digital economy, fostering the competencies of the modern resilient and multi-skilled worker, making basic digital construction skills as well as coding and other ICT competencies core aspects of formal education.”