International fora

The G20 is the premier forum for international cooperation on the most urgent issues of economic and financial agenda. The G20 is comprised of most of the world's largest economies and developing nations; it accounts for around 80% of global GDP, two-thirds of the global population. The G20 was founded in 1999 to enhance dialogue and cooperation on key economic, financial and political issues in view of underrepresentation of emerging and developing countries in the G7. G20 Summits at the level of Heads of State/Government have been held annually since 2008 (an anti-crisis summit to discuss issues related to the global financial crisis) under the leadership of a rotating Presidency.

The BRICS is an interstate association of five leading emerging economies: an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The BRICS has been operating in its current format since 2011. The BRICS is a “continuation” of the BRIC association founded in 2006 following Russia’s initiative. The BRICS countries account for around 43% of the population, as well as about 30% of global GDP (based on purchasing power parity). The key focus areas among the BRICS countries are coordination of joint actions in multilateral fora, inter alia, on economic, financial and political issues (in the G20, the IMF, the World Bank Group and the UN), as well as financial and economic cooperation within the BRICS agenda.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a regional economic forum that promotes cooperation in the area of regional trade as well as the facilitation and liberalization of investment. The goals of the forum are to enhance economic growth, prosperity in the region and to strengthen the Asia-Pacific community. The forum was founded in 1989 and unites 21 economies. One of the key areas of the forum's work is the APEC Finance Ministers' Process, which addresses issues of fiscal cooperation and macroeconomic policy both at the regional and national levels.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an international organization founded in June 2001 by the leaders of Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The main objective is to strengthen confidence between its participants in the military field, ensure peace, security and stability in the region, fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism, and develop economic cooperation, energy partnership, scientific and cultural interaction.