Business and the global economy(2)
ICC statement on behalf of world business to the Heads of State and Government attending the St. Petersburg Summit, 15-17 July 2006
Publication date : 08/07/2005
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the world business organization, is pleased to submit this statement to the Heads of State and Government attending the G8 Summit at St. Petersburg, Russia (15-17 July 2006). The statement focuses on three issues of crucial importance to world business at the current time.
1. Global energy security
ICC welcomes the inclusion of global energy security on the agenda of the St. Petersburg Summit at the initiative of host nation Russia. This is a logical next step after the Gleneagles Summit whose focus was on climate change and clean energy. In the past few years, energy policy and security have become among the foremost preoccupations of the world business community.
2. Doha trade negotiations: running out of time
World
business believes strongly that the rules-based multilateral trading
system, managed through the World Trade Organization (WTO), is one of
the central pillars of international economic cooperation. It has made
an enormous contribution to liberalizing world trade and improving
market access, and is a major driving force for global economic growth,
job creation, and wider consumer choice.
3. Intellectual property protection and economic progress
The
global epidemic of product counterfeiting and copyright piracy poses an
ever-widening threat to economic and social welfare. Virtually no
sector of industry is untouched today by this illegal – and often
dangerous – activity.
For further information, please contact
Andrea BACHER
Policy Manager, Economic Policy
Tel:
+33 (0)1 49 53 28 48
andrea.bacher@iccwbo.org