EABER–CSIS Roundtable on Multilateral Trade Reform

Peter Drysdale, Shiro Armstrong, Liam Gammon and Nicola Cole attended the EABER-ISEAS seminars on EABER-ISEAS seminars on Multilateral Trade Reform and the role of Indonesia’s G20 Presidency and ASEAN Chairmanship in addressing global food security. These seminars took place as global food security gained prominence on the G20 agenda due to the war in Ukraine, which resulted in significant price hikes for food and fuel. In May, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution emphasising the importance of global food security and urging the G20 to prioritise this issue while supporting multilateral efforts to find affordable solutions to the crisis.

Despite discussions on global food security at previous G20 Summits since 2011, progress in global food security cooperation has been disappointing, with recurring food crises and no established mechanism to address large-scale disruptions to food supplies, such as those caused by the conflict in Ukraine. The seminars aimed to explore how Indonesia’s G20 Presidency and subsequent ASEAN Chairmanship in 2023 can contribute to concrete deliverables on global food cooperation. The discussions sought to identify potential legacies and opportunities for addressing global food security challenges within these leadership roles.

These seminars are part of a series on regional and global economic issues organised by the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research (EABER) at the Australian National University and the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. The events were supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Singapore.