On Thursday 1 February, the Inception Workshop: Vision and Strategies for 2018 event began. It is the first time the Think 20 (T20) has met to work together in person, representing 149 think tanks from 45 countries from around the world. The welcome remarks were delivered by Adalberto Rodríguez Giavarini, the president of The Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI) and Jorge Mandelbaum, the president of the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (CIPPEC). These two organizations are presiding the engagement group during 2018.

In his speech, Adalberto Rodríguez Giavarini said: “…[Argentina] is the first South American country to organize the G20 meeting, to organize the T20 Summit and this T20 is its first step. This first step is grounded in the solid rock of the Argentine tradition of producing knowledge and theories from the South, and this is a remarkable opportunity to recreate that tradition.”

He also referred to the challenge that the current generation is currently facing “how do we make governance fair and equitable for everyone – no matter where they live? As president of the Argentine Council of International Relations, it is an honour to welcome all of you and witness just how we are making the T20 a global governance torch for a national equity society.”

During his speech, Jorge Mandelbaum referred to the challenge the Think 20 has, under the Argentine presidency, by comparing it to that of the German presidency: “The excellent level of achievement in the work done in the German T20 is a challenging act to follow. We trust our standards are as high as theirs, so our Japanese friends can rest assured we will maintain, or even hopefully improve, that quality when we hand over our T20 work to them.”

He added: “Hopefully [The T20’s work]  will inspire our leaders, and help them shape the basis of our future.”

In addition, the president of CIPPEC explained his objectives for this engagement group’s cycle: “…to show our foreign friends the actual Argentina and its enormous potential going forward.” He added that he also wants “to consolidate a network of think tanks around the world which can, by meeting periodically in this context, establish a common agenda.”

Following the welcome remarks, Nicolás Dujovne, the Argentine Treasury Minister, gave a discourse on the Argentine priorities during its G20 presidency.

Click here for the entire program of the Inception Workshop: Vision and Strategies for 2018 and follow our live coverage of the event on Twitter.