As Turkey gets ready to take the reins of the presidency of the G20, implementation of past commitments by the group's members will guide it's focus, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said Saturday, Anadolu Agency reported.
Babacan spoke to The Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and Monetary Committee.
The discussion centered on Turkey's priorities for its term for the presidency, to be handed over by Australia by December 1.
Turkey will assume the presidency in a very challenging global economic backdrop, Babacan noted, and one of its top priorities will be making good on previous promises.
"Commitments are expressed over and over, however, most of them go unfulfilled. Thus implementation of these commitments is going to be an important cross-cutting subject that Turkey would address," he said.
Babacan said that there are more than 900 commitments made by the G20 during Australia's presidency and this number is likely to increase. "Our priority will be to develop an effective monitoring mechanism for the implementation of these commitments in a structured, effective and timely manner," he said.
The mastermind of Turkey's economy touched on the global economic outlook and noted that besides fragile global growth, geopolitical developments pose risks to the global economic recovery.
"Despite the G20 members' decisive actions in the aftermath of the (global financial) crisis and very accommodative fiscal and monetary policies, global growth is still far from being strong or sustainable, or balanced," he said. "We also have to face the downside risks, including the geopolitical developments which are becoming more alarming recently."
In the face of these risks "growth strategies, financial regulation, employment plans and the reform of international institutions" would be particularly focused at the heart of G20 discussions, he noted.
Another priority will be to emphasize the link between growth and the investments on infrastructure so that Turkey can address the risks.
"We will be putting an effort to bring together the reforms that tangibly improve the investment climate, and to unlock private sector investments for both infrastructure and for small- and middle-sized enterprises (SME)."