The annual think tank summit Global Solutions 2019 held by the Global Solutions Initiative took place on 18–19 March 2019 in Berlin, Germany. As previously, the summit consisted of a number of Think 20 events (T20 is an engagement group affiliated with the G20). The Berlin Global Solutions Summit 2019 was an associated event of the T20 May 2019 meeting, which is meant to approve recommendations for the Japan G20 meeting scheduled in June 2019.
The Berlin forum included approximately 1,600 representatives from 120 countries, which demonstrated the transparency in the work of G20 structures. The Global Solutions Summit brought together representatives of leading international research organisations, policy makers, a number of top businessmen and business structures, reputable civil society organisations, media, international organisations involved in global regulation, as well as about a hundred youth representatives from across the globe (Youth Global Changers). For the third consecutive year, Ukraine was represented by Razumkov Centre Scientific Consultant on Economic Issues Volodymyr Sidenko.
Top participants and presenters at Global Solutions Summit 2019 included: leading German government representatives — Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, Federal Minister of Finance and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Hubertus Heil, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office Niels Annen, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Katarina Barley. European Commission leaders also took part in the event: First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, EC Vice-President (responsible for EU's Economic and Monetary Union issues) Valdis Dombrovskis.
Overall, the summit included 221 presentations on different issues. A number of discussions allowed to harmonise positions on key global development policy areas developed by ten Т20 working groups, including: agenda for sustainable development and universal healthcare system; international financial architecture to ensure stability and development; climate change and many other environmental issues; economic aspects of infrastructure investment and sources of its funding; cooperation with Africa; ensuring global unity, global management and determining global policy prospects; the future of labour market and education amidst digital transformations, taking into account the goal of achieving gender equality; development of trade, investment and globalisation processes; SME policy; challenges related to the ageing of population and its impact on the economy.
