G20 Summit: ICC high hopes for marked progress

The 2016 Summit takes places this weekend in Hangzhou, China, against a backdrop of sluggish GDP growth and slowing global trade. CEOs from across G20 economies have called for a credible action plan to open markets, mobilize private sector capital and make it easier to trade internationally.

ICC First Vice-Chairman John Denton, CEO of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, is in Hangzhou to lead the ICC delegation which comprises members of the ICC CEO Advisory Group. Mr Denton said it was important for G20 leaders to meet with purpose and demonstrate leadership on complex multilateral negotiations, including on climate change, energy and global trade. “Hangzhou is where the G20 can make a real impact on global economic governance if it’s willing to put aside differences and bridge the gap where other multilateral institutions have struggled to make progress,” he said.

Hangzhou is where the G20 can make a real impact on global economic governance if it’s willing to put aside differences and bridge the gap where other multilateral institutions have struggled to make progress.

Mr Denton also expressed hope for real progress to be made regarding G20 responsiveness to Business-20 (B20) recommendations, including tangible action on longstanding business priorities.

This year, B20 China – under the leadership of Jiang Zengwei Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) – produced a set of 20 principle recommendations, focused primarily on structural reforms and addressing most of the key issues worked on by G20 representatives known as sherpas. Recommendations included calls for collective agreement on trade issues, strengthened intergovernmental cooperation against corruption, bridging the gap in infrastructure investment, promoting a multinational framework on investment and expanding access to financing for SMEs.

ICC and B20 are also calling for improvements in the global investment landscape, commitments to achieve progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and further progress on energy and climate to build upon the G20’s unprecedented deliberations last year in Antalya.

The ICC delegation to the G20 includes:

• John W. H. Denton, ICC First Vice Chairman and CEO of Corrs Chambers Westgarth (Australia)
• Jean-Sebastien Jacques, CEO, Rio Tinto
• Frank Ning, CEO, Sinochem
• Rifat Hisarcıklıoglu, Chairman, Eskihisar Group and President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (Turkey)
• Peder Holk Nielsen, CEO, Novozymes
• Yogendra Kumar Modi, Executive Chairman, Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd.
• Kimball Chen, CEO, Energy Transportation Group
• Antonio Brufau, Chairman, Repsol
• Khalid Alireza, Chairman, National Petrochemical Industrial Company of Saudi Arabia
• Xinsheng Zhang, Executive Chairman, Shell China
• Cheri Nursalim, Vice Chairman, Giti Group
• Alfred (Che Wei), Vice President, Danfoss China
• Yoke Loon Lim, Country Manager, Dow Chemical China
• Victor Dosoretz, Chairman, ICC Argentina
• Chris Southworth, Secretary General, ICC United Kingdom
• John Carroll, Chair of ICC UK Trade & Investment Committee / Santander UK
• Ghislaine Weder, Assistant Vice President, Nestlé
• Alexander R. Malaket, CITP, President, OPUS Advisory Services International, Deputy Head of the Executive Committee, ICC Banking Commission, Co-Chair, Trade Finance Faculty, ICC Academy