.jpg)
As one of the main forums for international economic cooperation the G20 plays an important role in shaping and strengthening the global governance architecture for major international economic issues.
The G20 was founded on the initiative of the finance ministers of seven nations - Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, the UK and the USA - at a conference in Berlin in December 1999.
The G20's main objectives are to coordinate the policies of member countries in order to achieve global economic stability and sustainable growth.
The G20 summits are attended by its permanent members (21 participants), as well as invited countries and international organizations.
In 2023, at the New Delhi (India) Summit, the African Union was granted permanent membership status by a unanimous decision of all G20 members.
Currently, the following 19 countries enjoy permanent membership status in the G20:
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, and 2 collective participants: the European Union and the African Union.
The G20's railway infrastructure is a key component of their national economies and the transportation systems of most of the cooperating states, which handles both domestic and international freight and passenger transportation.
The railroad network in the G20 member countries (19 states) stretches over 855.4 thousand kilometers, out of which 301.9 thousand kilometers are electrified lines.
While the total volume of cargo handled by the railway network in the G20 member countries is about 1 billion tons per year, annual cargo turnover figures are more than 11 trillion tkm and passenger turnover - 2 trillion passenger kilometers.
In 2013, St. Petersburg hosted the eighth G20 Summit which focused on economic growth and financial stability, job creation, investment promotion and international trade.
One of the most groundbreaking initiatives proposed by the G20 participants in the development of the transportation sector is the establishment of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). In September 2023, at the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between India, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), France, Germany, Italy and the European Union to establish the above economic corridor.
Read next content