Switzerland to participate in G20 finance meetings

Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf received an invitation for Switzerland to join the G20 Finance Track from her Chinese counterpart, Lou Jiwei Keystone

After its initial participation in 2013, Switzerland will again take part in the G20 meetings of finance ministers and central bank governors in 2016, the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF) said on Wednesday. 

“The Chinese authorities, who assumed the G20 presidency on December 1, sent Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf an invitation,” SIF reported. “Switzerland will also participate actively in the corresponding working groups and preparatory meetings.” 

The Group of Twenty (G20) is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies. 

SIF said the invitation was “not only a recognition of Switzerland’s position in the international financial system, it also reflects the close relations between China and Switzerland, which have been further fostered in recent years, particularly in the financial sphere”. 

Widmer-Schlumpf, who retires at the end of the year, said that since all the most important decisions on economic cooperation between countries and financial market regulation were taken in the G20, it was important for Switzerland to be directly informed about the G20’s work and to participate in it. 

“We will constructively bring our expertise as a major financial centre to the table with the aim of helping to develop a stable and open international financial system. Such a financial system is a key condition for sustainable growth,” she said. 

The first technical meetings will be held next month and the first meeting of the finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 countries will take place in February 2016.