The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is encouraged that business recommendations for boosting the global economy, including those aimed at unblocking trade negotiations, were taken into account by G20 leaders at their recent Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico. ICC executives, who met in Paris recently, agreed that while much progress still needs to be made, the measures announced by G20 leaders represent a positive step towards creating favorable conditions for improving economic growth and creating jobs. The G20 final communiqué, issued on June 19 at the close of the Summit, took into account recommendations that had been delivered to the G20 by several business organizations, including ICC, on behalf of global business.
“ICC welcomes that G20 leaders have reasserted their shared belief in multilateralism and picked up on our trade and investment recommendations,” ICC Chairman Gerard Worms said. “Their agreement to negotiate on this issue is an indicator of progress and presents an opportunity to reinvigorate the global economy.”
“Despite the challenges we all face domestically, we have agreed that multilateralism is of even greater importance in the current climate, and remains our best asset to resolve the global economy’s difficulties,” the G20 leaders stated in the final communiqué, which also expresses appreciation for the contributions of the G20 Business Summit process.
CEOs from the ICC G20 Advisory Group and partners, the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Mexican business associations COPARMEX and COMCE, delivered business views on a host of topics including trade and investment to Mexican President Felipe Calderon on April 19 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in preparation for the G20 Summit. Among these recommendations was a call for increased tools for global governance, namely for reinforcement of the role and powers of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). G20 leaders subsequently reaffirmed in Los Cabos their commitment to fully implement the 2010 Quota and Governance Reform by the time of the IMF/World Bank annual meetings, set to take place October 12-14, 2012.
