Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Vivendi Universal
On accepting USCIB’s International Leadership Award
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
The United Nations, New York City
Good evening your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.
First of all I would like to thank Louise Fréchette for her nice words and Chairman O’Hare for his very kind introduction.
I am very honored to be here to receive USCIB’s International Leadership Award.
It is a true privilege for a European CEO to be the first non-US recipient of this prestigious business award.
USCIB is a key institution in this always more global, integrated and complex world. As chairman of ICC, I am pleased tonight to thank USCIB for its very active and pertinent cooperation. USCIB is a key contributor to ICC work. Again, congratulations and thank you.
Most of you know ICC. However, I will take a few moments now to briefly remind you of our mission and some of the work we are doing today to help businesses around the world.
Then I would like to take the opportunity of this event to tell you about ICC’s major new initiative to strengthen the vital fight against the piracy of intellectual property rights and the production of counterfeit goods.
As you know, European and American business people share a long history of cooperation. ICC was founded by a group of European and American business leaders after the First World War in 1919. They met in Atlantic City and decided to locate the headquarters of the new institution in Paris, where it remains today.
Their aim was to foster the development of international commerce.
They were convinced that international trade was a major driver for economic and social development. They also believed it would lead to a better understanding between peoples. They therefore came to be known as “The Merchants of Peace.”
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Today international trade is still the main vocation and focus of ICC.
ICC has fought hard for the lowering of trade barriers, the establishment of multilateral trade agreements and the development of services for the international activities of companies.
When ICC was created, it was one of very few international organizations.
Thanks to its voluntary experts from the majority of countries around the world, ICC has defined and actualized the rules, procedures and contracts which are used in most international transactions.
ICC’s famous International Court of Arbitration, founded in 1923 to solve business disputes, has become a benchmark institution, respected the world over.
Its Commercial Crime Services office is renowned for its efficiency, in particular in the fight against maritime piracy but is also active against counterfeiting.
Present in more than 130 countries and representing thousands of businesses of all sizes, ICC is now in its 85th year and has earned a real legitimacy.
ICC is the official voice of world business and a permanent interlocutor to such institutions as the United Nations, the World Customs Organization and the World Trade Organization.
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Today, we have to face a critical situation. The world is less and less secure; globalization is a fact but its consequences are not analyzed in the same way by everybody.
Many people are anxious in response to a growing uncertainty. Governments hesitate. In this context, ICC held its 35th
(thirty fifth) Congress in Marrakech last June and we focused on 4 main messages.
First is our conviction that the expansion of international trade is one of the driving engines of economic and social progress. We must resist protectionist pressures.
Second, we consider that multilateral agreements in the context of the WTO are indispensable to development of balanced trade relations between countries – especially between the North and South.
Third, to reap all the benefits of globalization, good governance is vital for companies and governments as well. Every country, from the rich to the least developed, is competing to attract international investment and to strengthen its private sector.
To succeed, a country must have legislation regulating trade and investment which is effective, fair, competitive and respected.
Fourth and finally, we appeal to companies to take action. Problems relating to globalization cannot all be solved by international institutions and states.
Like the founders of ICC in 1919, we in business must be imaginative and audacious. We must take the initiative in all fields in which our capabilities are unique. In cooperation with states and international institutions, of course.
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Now I would like to announce the start of a major new initiative by ICC to fight the piracy of intellectual property rights and the production of counterfeit goods worldwide.
I invite you all to join forces with us in this battle and to use our existing international network of resources and companies to build a united front to fight piracy and counterfeiting worldwide.
As many of you are aware, this illegal activity is spiraling out of control. It is a major threat. It’s like a cancer.
Estimated at over 600 billion dollars annually, a disorder of this magnitude creates a significant drain on the global economy.
Piracy and counterfeiting now affect all of us and all of our companies.
For instance, the World Health Organization states that close to 1 out of 10 drugs sold around the world are counterfeits. The situation is worse in developing countries. This illegal activity is a threat to health and safety.
For software, losses reached nearly 29 billion dollars in 2003.
In the music industry, 2 of every 5 recordings are pirate copies.
And the list goes on. In fact, almost all sectors are affected, including cars and airplane parts, toys and luxury goods.
Counterfeiting and piracy are crimes, and the economic losses they entail are enormous. The victims include the creators and the industries, governments who lose hundreds of millions in tax revenues, economies that are deprived of new investment and consumers who are put at risk from sub-standard goods.
The secretary general of Interpol, Ron Noble, said recently: “What I find absolutely amazing is that this is a multi-billion dollar problem that affects the safety of people, the security of governments, that is connected to organized crime, drug trafficking and terrorism … and nobody pressures me to say what I’m doing about this problem. There is no pressure to produce results.”
The FBI to state that counterfeiting and piracy will become “the crime of the 21st
century.”
In our ICC statement to G8 leaders this year, we urged governments to reinforce the respect of international obligations in the intellectual property field and requested that the G8 take the lead in improving the enforcement of existing laws.
At the ICC World Congress in Marrakesh we had a well-attended and very successful session on the need to protect intellectual property. During and after that session, many corporate leaders appealed to ICC to take a leading role in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy.
Now, we’re going to respond to this call to action and build upon our early progress. As Chairman of ICC, I am launching a new ICC initiative, entitled “Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy.”
Our plans will be to:
· Raise the profile of anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting efforts on governments’ agenda and in the media
· Facilitate information exchange, sharing of best practices, cooperation with other organizations
· Launch a branded media campaign to address the full range of IP counterfeiting and piracy issues
· Concentrate influence with national governments and intergovernmental organizations thanks to the ICC network.
This is a necessary engagement at a time when the creation and distribution of intellectual property has become a key driver of world economic growth.
It is imperative that business unites and acts at a global level now. ICC’s Task Force on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights, which is co-chaired by Universal Music and Microsoft, is made up of members of more than 25 countries including Brazil, India, Pakistan, Russia, Israel, Japan, France, Germany, England and the United States. They are hard at work on these issues. I have already had positive reactions to my proposals from Unilever, NBC and Vivendi Universal.
At this stage, we need more companies and leaders to join us, to give us their advice and support and to help us launch this initiative. I would like to personally invite you to be part of our team. In the coming weeks I will be contacting the CEOs of key companies to ask for their participation and support.
Together, we have the opportunity to make the voice of business heard at a time when it is needed most.
Once again, I would like to extend my thanks to all of you.
More on USCIB’s Annual Dinner
Vivendi Universal website
