South Africa expressed confidence that it can get finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 nations to agree on a communique for the first time since it assumed the leadership of the bloc, despite differences between the US and its other members.

Discussions in the lead-up to a meeting at a resort near the eastern port city of Durban this week laid a strong foundation for consensus to be reached, Duncan Pieterse, the director-general of South Africa’s National Treasury, said in an opening address to officials on Monday.

“We are very pleased with the collaborative spirit shown during the virtual discussions we had last week and we believe that we are able to achieve agreement in most of the areas,” he said. “We believe that those engagements have set a very strong foundation for our discussions.”

The meeting is the fourth of its kind to be held since South Africa took over the presidency of the G20 from Brazil, a tenure than has been largely overshadowed by Donald Trump’s return to the White House and his plans to hike tariffs on most imports into the US. None of the previous meetings produced a consensus accord, with delegates failing to reach agreement on climate financing and a range of other issues.

US enmity toward South Africa and its aims of using its G20 presidency to promote solidarity, equality and sustainability continues, with its Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent skipping this week’s talks once again.

“We are, of course, meeting at a moment of ongoing uncertainty in the global economy, while there are signs of resilience in some areas, various challenges do remain,” Pieterse said. “The multilateral system is being tested, and our collective ability to respond will shape the pace of our recovery, but also the prospects for inclusive and sustainable development.”