The B20 conference is an opportunity for the international business community that it took place with more than 700 representatives of companies in Berlin on 2-3 of May. But what happened on B20 meeting?

“The existence of G20 means the isolation and protectionism are dead-ends and not ways forward”, said German chancellor Angela Merkel on B20 2017.
She as another business leader rejected protectionism in her speech and arguing that increasingly interconnected world meant countries must work more closely together.

Emma Marcegaglia agreed with Merkel on protectionism. “Barriers and protectionism are growing, not only in the US but in many countries. From 2009 there have been 200 initiatives per year of different countries to protect their markets”.

What is B20?

Business 20 (B20) is the official G20 dialogue with the global business community; in other words, it is a forum through which the private sector produces policy recommendations for the annual meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) leaders.

The B20 brings together business leaders from G20 member countries to support G20 with concrete policy recommendations.

The B20 is the voice of the G20 business community and it has a very important role in helping the G20 delivering meaningful outcomes.

From 2008 to 2014 in average 70 percent of policy recommendations have been implemented on these meetings. Implementation quota 2008-2014 in sector like labor&employment is 88%, energy 76%, food&agriculture 75%, IMF/WB reform 74%, financial regulation 73%, macroeconomic policy 72%, development 67%, climate change 66%, trade 59%, international cooperation 58%, crime and corruption 57%.

B20 - Role and Activities

B20’s foundation is the development of recommendations to the G20 in taskforces and cross-thematic groups that are constituted by business representatives and experts from the G20 countries. The B20 identifies areas where G20 action is crucial.

Where is it?

The B20, like the G20, has no permanent secretariat and exists from year to year at the invitation of the G20 Presidency. This year German Chancellery assumed the B20 presidency.

Who participate?

Both small and big companies take part in the B20. More than 700 representatives of companies and business associations from 39 countries belong to the B20 each year. The B20 members reach agreement by consensus on the recommendations that are ultimately made to the G20.

The story of B20

The B20 was first assembled as a business summit during the Canadian G20 Presidency in June 2010 and continued to play an important role during the succeeding Korean, French, Mexican and Russian host years.

Business leaders have been meeting regularly since the G8 Summit in Germany in 2007. When the G8 members decided to expand to include 20 members and became a more powerful decision making forum, the business organizations also chose to meet in a similar format.

B20 - Taskforces and Cross-thematic Groups

Taskforces:

• Trade and Investment;

• Energy, Climate & Resource Efficiency;

• Financing Growth & Infrastructure;

• Digitalization;

• Employment & Education.

Cross-thematic Groups:

• Responsible Business Conduct & AntiCorruption;

• SMEs;

• Health initative.

Each taskforce is headed by a chair and several co-chairs. Around 100 representatives from companies and business associations, representing all G20 countries and sectors of the economy, are working together in each taskforce and cross-thematic group to find answers to global challenges.

Priority of B20 2017

There are three themes that should be addressed under the German Presidency within the framework of the B20:

1. Removal of trade barriers. The harmonization and simplification of regulations would be one viable approach.

2. Digitalization offers enormous potential for SMEs. Access to digital platforms and networks must be strongly promoted and accelerated.

3. Access to financing opportunities, which remains difficult – especially in emerging markets – must be made significantly easier.

Why is the B20 important for SMEs?

The majority of companies around the world are small and medium-sized businesses. Many are active internationally and integrated into supply chains. They buy or sell across borders, and even if such companies have a regional focus, they are nonetheless subject to the influence of internationalization.

Fonte: a cura di Exportiamo, di Morvarid Mahmoodabadi, redazione@exportiamo.it

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