Union Cabinet approves setting up of a G20 Secretariat.

Why in news?

• The G20 Secretariat will be responsible for implementing overall policy decisions and arrangements needed to steer India’s forthcoming Presidency of the forum for international economic cooperation.
• It is being established for handling the work related to substantive/ content/knowledge media, technical, security and logistical aspects of India’s G20 Presidency.
• It will be manned by staff and officers from Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and other line Ministries or Departments and domain knowledge experts.
• The Secretariat will be functional till February 2024.
• The G20 Secretariat will be guided by an apex committee, headed by Prime Minister. It will also comprise of Finance Minister, External Affairs Minister, Home Minister, and G20 Sherpa (Commerce & Industry Minister). It will provide overall guidance to India’s G20 Presidency.
• India will hold G20 Presidency from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023. It will culminate with the G20 Summit in India in 2023.

About G20

• G20 is an intergovernmental forum, consisting of 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works for addressing major issues related to global economy, like climate change mitigation, international financial stability, and sustainable development.
• It is composed of most of world’s largest economies, including industrialized and developing nations. It accounts for 90% of gross world product (GWP), 75–80% of international trade, half of world’s land area and two-thirds of the global population.
• The G20 was founded in 1999. Since 2008, it has convened at least once a year. The summits involve head of government or state, foreign minister, finance minister, and other high-ranking officials from each member state. EU is represented by European Commission and European Central Bank.
• Currently, Italy, Indonesia and India are the G20 troika countries.