Washington D.C., June 5, 2012 – The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) today launched the ICC G20 Business Scorecard, measuring progress on the G20’s response to business recommendations, at a consultation between government officials and business leaders on the outlook for the June 18-19 G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, according to the United States Council for International Business (USCIB), ICC’s American national committee.
The scorecard, unveiled at an ICC consultation in Washington, D.C. hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), marked G20 performance as “incomplete” in three out of four policy areas evaluated: trade and investment, green growth, transparency and anti-corruption, and financing for growth and development.
The aim of the scorecard is to generate a balanced and reliable measurement of the G20’s performance in response to business recommendations that have been put forward to G20 leaders, in particular on ICC priority issues including trade and investment.
“At a time when governments are struggling with excessive debt, multilateral trade liberalization would create jobs and drive economic growth,” said ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier. “Countries can create enormous economic opportunities when they enhance cross-border trade and investment flows.”
On trade and investment the scorecard gives the G20 a score of “incomplete,” based primarily on its failure to help advance the Doha Round of trade negotiations.
“The scorecard is a useful tool for business to monitor the G20’s progress on the trade agenda,” said Carrier. “G20 leadership to break the stalemate in WTO negotiations or to build a multilateral framework for investment advances would be reflected in a significantly higher score.”
ICC maintains that if the G20 has better information on how its actions are interpreted by the business community this will help it set priorities, honor commitments, measure its own progress over time and identify deficiencies that deserve greater attention. In parallel, the business community should work more closely with the G20 to promote economic growth and job creation.
“Today’s consultation is part of the business community’s effort to play an increasingly influential role to support G20 actions to foster economic growth, promote open trade and investment, build a more stable financial system and improve the environment for doing business,” said USCIB Chairmanand ICC Vice Chairman Harold McGraw III, chairman and CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
The Washington consultation featured discussions with McGraw, Michael Froman, the U.S. G20 sherpa and deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, and Alejandro Ramirez, CEO of Cinepolis and chair of the Mexican organizing committee for the 2012 G20 Business Summit.
Participants addressed key topics from the G20 policy agenda, including global financial recovery, financial regulation, international financial institution reform and the role of the Financial Stability Board. The G20’s broader policy agenda was also addressed, including trade and investment, energy, green growth, anti-corruption and financing for development.
“For the past two years, ICC has canvassed the global business community and worked with G20 host countries to produce a set of business policy priorities,” Carrier said. “This meeting provided an important opportunity to share our views, gauge government responses and learn about G20 priorities for the upcoming summit.”
The ICC scorecard is an important tool for business. Business leaders with better information on whether the G20 has recognized business input and how it has carried through on specific business recommendations are better able to adjust future recommendations and engagement with the G20.
To achieve the scorecard results, ICC evaluated the G20’s progress according to 57 business recommendations made since 2008. Subsequent editions of the scorecard will be adapted based on shifting priorities and G20 actions. The scorecard evaluates the G20’s response to business recommendations based on three criteria:
- Recognition: Has the G20 addressed an issue raised by business?
- Action: Has the G20 taken action on this issue?
- Adequacy: Is the G20’s response or action adequate in addressing the issue?
An “insufficient” score indicates the G20 has not addressed the issue at all. An “incomplete” score signifies it has at least taken notice of the subject, however with little or no action taken in response. A “progress” score shows that the G20 has acted in line with the business recommendation, while “pass” means it has effectively addressed the business recommendation.
In addition to trade and investment, the scorecard evaluated G20 work on green growth with an “incomplete” score; its actions on transparency and anti-corruption as “incomplete”; and its initiatives in terms of financing for growth and development with a “progress” score.
“A lot of work remains to be done in getting business issues addressed by the G20, but the progress so far is very encouraging,” stated McGraw. “Business is already bolstered by the response it has received from the Mexican government in preparation for the G20 Summit and from Michael Froman at the consultation in Washington today.”
ICC has been providing input to the G20 since 2008 and now plans to issue the scorecard yearly ahead of each Summit to help drive business priorities. ICC in 2011 established the ICC G20 Advisory Group, which now comprises approximately 30 CEOs, as an official platform for providing business input to the G20.
ICC, along with partner organizations including the World Economic Forum, has developed policy recommendations to the G20 in preparation for the G20 Summit. These policy recommendations cover the four themes of the scorecard categories, as well as others.
About USCIB:
USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence. Its members include U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of our economy, with operations in every region of the world. With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, including BIAC, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment. More information is available at www.uscib.org.
Contact:
Jonathan Huneke, VP communications, USCIB
+1 212.703.5043 or jhuneke@uscib.org.
