President opens P20 Summit at Nusantara Building

I expect that in the future, it will allow the world's parliaments to participate in matters that are now (considered) very global issues

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) officially opened the 8th G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit at the Nusantara Building, Parliament Complex, here, on Thursday afternoon.

He and his entourage arrived at the building around 1:40 p.m. dressed in black suits. Widodo was welcomed by House Speaker Puan Maharani and her staff who had been waiting inside.

"President Jokowi is to officially open the P20 event at 1 p.m. (local time)," Maharani said in a statement.

The P20 is a meeting whose participants comprise parliamentarians from G20 countries, which include the world's largest economies.

"I expect that in the future, it will allow the world's parliaments to participate in matters that are now (considered) very global issues. Of course, the first is food security, then renewable energy, and so on," she said.

The P20 aims to improve inter-parliamentary coordination to realize the goals of the G20 countries, which include pursuing global economic stability and sustainable growth through the functions of budgeting, law-making, and parliamentary monitoring.

P20 was one of the engagement groups of the G20, an international-scale grouping whose presidency Indonesia is holding this year.

Various preparations have been made to organize the P20 meeting, which reflect the House of Representatives’ involvement in making the series of G20 events a success and painting a better image of Indonesia before the global community as well as reviving the nation’s economy and tourism.

It is expected that the House of Representatives' participation in the G20 would support the implementation of all programs of the government, which is set to host the G20 Summit in November in Bali.