Preliminary Findings and Recommendations from Participants
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PRELIMINARY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PARTICIPANTS Discussion report for round table sessions Preliminary findings and recommendations from participants Discussion report for round table sessions CONTENTS Introduction 3 Executive summary 5 Revitalizing world trade: towards a sustainable and equitable recovery 13 Encouraging and strengthening foreign direct investment: Driving prosperity through productivity and creativity 23 How can the small and medium-sized enterprise sector be funded and nurtured 33 Supporting economic growth and the implications for financial sector policy and regulatory reforms 47 How business views reductions in monetary and fiscal stimulus 59 Closing the gap in infrastructure and natural resource funding 89 How can companies contribute to improving energy efficiency 105 Encouraging substantial use of renewable and low-carbon energy 115 Creating green jobs 123 Unleashing technology-enabled productivity growth 157 Addressing the impact of youth unemployment 169 Increasing access to healthcare in developing economies 185 Acknowledgements 195 Contents 1 Preliminary findings and recommendations from participants Discussion report for round table sessions 2 Preliminary findings and recommendations from participants Discussion report for round table sessions INTRODUCTION In the aftermath of the financial and economic crisis that engulfed the world in 2008, the concerted action of the G20 was instrumental in preventing a collapse of the global financial system and the global economy. As such, the G20 became the premier forum for international economic cooperation. However, governments alone cannot address the most pressing challenges facing the global economy. To be effective, solutions must also involve the active participation of business and civil society. Indeed, the global business community has been playing its part in efforts to generate new growth and create the jobs needed to consolidate the economic recovery. Yet it is clear that government and business must deepen collaboration and create new public-private partnerships if long-term reforms and restructuring of the global economy are to be achieved successfully. For this reason, President Lee Myung-bak, the chair of the G20 Seoul Summit, invited the Korean business community to host a gathering of top business executives from around the world immediately prior to the G20 Summit this November. The Seoul G20 Business Summit, which will be attended by about 120 corporate chief executives, will enable G20 leaders to exchange views with the private sector on the state of the global economy, how to prevent future crises, and the priorities for ensuring strong and balanced growth in the long term. The Seoul G20 Business Summit is more than just a single meeting. To prepare for the G20 Business Summit, 12 business leaders have convened working groups involving over 100 global chairmen and CEOs. Their task was to deliberate on twelve critical issues facing the global economy and to produce reports on recommended actions that the G20 governments, global multilateral institutions and the business sector itself should take to meet the challenges facing the global economy. The working group topics were categorized under four broad themes: • Revitalizing trade and foreign direct investment • Enhancing financial stability and supporting economic activity • Harnessing green growth, and • Delivering on the promise of corporate social responsibility In September, representatives of the working groups gathered in Tianjin, in the People’s Republic of China, to share their initial findings, deliver the preliminary recommendations they had developed, and exchange ideas for further discussion. Following that meeting, each working group prepared a memorandum highlighting their key findings and recommendations. These in turn were presented to G20 Finance Ministers before their Summit preparatory meeting in Washington, DC, in early October and to G20 Summit Sherpas at their meeting in Seoul in the middle of October. As an outcome of this effort, the communiqué of the G20 Finance Minsters’ and central bank governors’ meetings in Gyeongju, South Korea, in late October, welcomed the work done by the 12 Seoul G20 Business Summit working groups. Introduction 3 Preliminary findings and recommendations from participants Discussion report for round table sessions At the end of their deliberations in late October, the 12 working groups drafted the final reports that are contained in this publication. This collaborative process, which was designed and supervised from the outset by the Seoul G20 Summit Organizing Committee, with the help of the McKinsey Global Institute, is noteworthy for the depth and breadth of the recommendations it has produced. The contents of this document represent a consensus among the members of each of the working groups on the steps that must be taken to deal with the global economic challenges covered by that group. That final consensus will be further elaborated and deepened by the deliberations at the Seoul G20 Business Summit itself. The fruits of that work will be incorporated into reports, and an enhanced version of this current publication will be issued and made available to the public before the end of this year. We have welcomed the dialogue at this Summit and we look forward to continuing engagement with the G20 both on upcoming issues and tracking and implementing the commitments made at this summit and before. 4 Introduction Preliminary findings and recommendations from participants Discussion report for round table sessions EXECUTIVE SUMMARY For the world to strengthen the current economic recovery and put the global economy on a sustainable growth path, business and government, as well as civil society, must join together to find new and innovative solutions and approaches to the key economic challenges that we face. To this end, the Seoul G20 Business Summit will bring around 120 of the world’s leading business executives together with G20 leaders to discuss the recovery and share thoughts on what must be done to ensure strong, sustainable and balanced growth in the future. The papers in this volume were drafted by working groups convened by leading global business executives and were designed to provide the background and foundation for those discussions. They lay out in great detail the current state of affairs in each of these 12 areas and provide recommendations for action to improve that situation by governments, the private sector, and government and business working together in partnership. Each paper reflects the consensus of the working group that prepared it, and does not imply agreement by other participants in this process. The highlights of the findings of each working group follow: I. REVITALIZING WORLD TRADE: TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE AND EQUITABLE RECOVERY In view of the need to revitalize trade, the G20 should: • Recommit to completing the Doha Development Round in 2011 and reinforce that commitment through the personal engagement of each G20 leader. • Roll back protectionism at least to where it was at the start of the global financial crisis and resist protectionism and trade-restrictive measures going forward. • Give trade finance favorable treatment under the New Capital Framework, often referred to as Basel III. • Put trade and investment permanently on the agenda of the G20. The businesss community is committed to support the outcomes of the G20 Business Summit, and therefore urges the G20 to establish a public-private task force under G20 leadership, to help facilitate business actions, including: • Providing data and analysis on how trade and finance interact to link economies and drive global growth. • Stepping up advocacy and outreach programs to underscore the positive links between trade, job creation and economic growth. * * * Executive summary 5 Preliminary findings and recommendations from participants Discussion report for round table sessions II. ENCOURAGING AND STRENGTHENING FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT: DRIVING PROSPERITY THROUGH PRODUCTIVITY AND CREATIVITY • If long-term foreign direct investment (FDI) flows are to accelerate and continue to grow, governments must avoid impediments to FDI and find ways that it can move even more freely. • Broaden monitoring of changes in conditions for private investment to areas affecting all private investment and to improvements in order to stimulate further opening. • Work toward a Multilateral Framework for Investment reflecting all interests (host and home countries), developing a non-binding International Model Investment Treaty as an interim step. • Ensure a clear and enforceable legal framework; aim for principle-based FDI regulation rather than detailed rules leading to simple compliance through box ticking. • Build a better understanding of the mainly positive impact of FDI (Creation of Shared Value). * * * III. HOW CAN THE SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISE SECTOR BE FUNDED AND NURTURED Despite its major contribution to the economy, the SME sector around the globe faces a multitude of impediments to growth many of which could be addressed by the following recommendations: • Create an enabling legal, regulatory and financial framework to favor SMEs, such as rationalizing tax schedules. • Improve awareness of the range of financing options available. • Provide incentives encouraging the financial sector to lend to SMEs. • Improve access of SMEs and innovative ventures to capital markets. • Spur innovation and R&D by establishing SME Innovative Technology