G20 FMs wrap up meeting, affirm multilateralism

The foreign ministers meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) concluded here Friday with participants affirming support for multilateralism after two days of intensive interactions.

German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said at a press conference shortly after the meeting ended that the participants agreed countries should work together to deal with the various challenges facing the world today.

"The meeting was very fruitful, indeed," Gabriel said.

Gabriel said the G20 played an increasingly important role in tackling global issues such as climate change and water scarcity, and such issues could only be tackled by working together, not by working in isolation.

The German minister also called for the establishment of an early warning mechanism so that the world would be better prepared to deal with global issues.

The meeting of foreign ministers, one of the serial ministerial-level meetings leading to the G20 Hamburg Summit in July, was held at the World Conference Center in Bonn.

The participants met on Thursday for the first working session focused on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted in September 2016 at the Hangzhou Summit.

They met for the second session on Friday to discuss issues about conflict prevention, post-conflict peace building, and how to strengthen cooperation with Africa.

The G20 is comprised of 19 countries plus the European Union (EU). The countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, Britain, and the United States.