CEOs from the G20 Advisory Group of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) met in Saint Petersburg with more than 400 other business leaders and top government officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Business-20 (or "B20") sessions taking place under the theme "B20-G20 Partnership for Growth and Jobs" in preparation for the G20 Summit to be held in Strelna, Russia from 5-6 September 2013.
The 20 June B20 Summit in St. Petersburg constituted the fourth consecutive year of CEO-level business engagement in G20 policy. The ICC delegation was led by ICC Chairman-elect Terry McGraw (Chairman and CEO, McGraw Hill Companies), ICC G20 Advisory Group Chairman Marcus Wallenberg (Chairman, SEB) and ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier. ICC's delegation was active and vocal on behalf of world business. Members of the ICC G20 Advisory Group were assigned prominent roles in the proceedings, presenting business recommendations to President Putin, participating on plenary panel discussions, and speaking to the media.
Specific ICC-led policy messages
ICC emphasised that business can and will play a crucial role in delivering economic growth and will be at the heart of sustained investement and innovation, creating growth and employment. During the Summit, ICC speakers called on the G20 to:
- Commit to finalizing a WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement;
- Reiterate support for open cross-border investment as an essential contributor to growth, development and jobs and take steps to advance an international investment agenda;
- Ensure the availability, stability and sustainability of trade finance;
- Honour commitments for complete ratification of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).
On trade, ICC was able to effectively advocate the need to secure a WTO Agreement on trade facilitation at the WTO Bali ministerial in December. This is one of the three main recommendations of our B20 Task Force; it is also an essential component of ICC's World Trade Agenda (WTA).
On investment and infrastructure, ICC stressed the need for policy-makers to:
- Identify and remove restrictions on free flow of investments (inflow and outflow) to enable cross border investment activity by undertaking a systemic monitoring of framework conditions for private investment to insure they are not disguised protectionism;
- Establish a uniform G20 multilateral investment framework setting minimum standards to be endorsed and implemented by G20 governments, utilizing the 2012 ICC Guidelines for International Investment as the template.
On anti-corruption, ICC presented a suite of ICC's anti-corruption tools in the B20 Anti-Corruption and Transparency task force, notably the ICC Rules on Combating Corruption and the ICC Anti-Corruption Clause. These ICC products provide the basis of a rigorous company anti-corruption compliance program for companies of all sizes, including SMEs.
On innovation, ICC delivered numerous policy recommendations across the areas of energy, intellectual property rights, information technology and bio-technology.
Media outreach
ICC took an early lead in communicating business messages to the media, setting out the main business priorities for the B20 Summit. Media engagements included live CNBC broadcast interviews and one-on-one interviews with print and web-based journalists.
On behalf of the ICC G20 Advisory Group, ICC also published a press release and web-story, which have been picked up by both Russian and international media outlets.
Press releases
B20 Taskforce on Investment and Infrustructure recommendations could attract up to $1 trillion to the sector
20 June 2013, PR Newswire
Participants
The ICC delegation was led by ICC Chairman-elect Terry McGraw (Chairman and CEO, McGraw Hill Companies), ICC G20 Advisory Group Chairman Marcus Wallenberg (Chairman, SEB) and ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier, who were joined by Antonio Brufau, Chairman & CEO Repsol; Kimball Chen, Chairman & CEO, Energy Transporation Group; Kris Gopalakrishnan, Executive Vice Chairman, Infosys Ltd.; Alexander Izosimov, Partner, Deep Roots Capital; Young Tae Kim, Chairman, Daesung; Yogendra Kr. (YK) Modi, Chairman & CEO, Great Eastern Energy; Pedr Holk Nielsen, CEO, Novozymes; Michael Smith, CEO, Australia New Zealand Bank; Jean-Pascal Tricoire, CEO, Schneider Electric; Zola Tsotsi, Chairman, Eskom; Alejandro Ramirez Magana, Director General, Cinépolis; Yassin S. Al-Suroor, CEO, A'amal Group; and John Denton, CEO and Partner, Corrs Chambers Westgarth.