20 business recommendations for the G20

When the G20 Summit kicks off in Brisbane on 15 November, ICC will advance 20 recommendations defined during the B20 process.

To promote structural flexibility, all G20 governments should:

1. Rapidly ratify and implement the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement and provide capacity-building assistance and financial support for developing world trade partners to do the same.

2. Develop country-specific supply chain strategies and address supply chain barriers through domestic regulatory reform and infrastructure investment.

3. Reaffirm the critical importance of infrastructure – and private investment in infrastructure – and set specific five-year investment targets aligned to a national strategic vision.

4. Establish, publish and deliver credible national infrastructure pipelines that have been rigorously assessed and prioritised by independent infrastructure authorities, and which take full advantage of private sector finance and expertise.

5. Establish an Infrastructure Hub with a global mandate to disseminate leading practice to facilitate the development and delivery of pipelines of bankable, investment-ready infrastructure projects.

6. Establish a national innovation agenda and pipeline with supporting structural reforms.

7. Increase the level of alignment and responsiveness between the learning ecosystem and workforce needs.

8. Remove barriers inhibiting entrepreneurs from starting and growing businesses.

9. Undertake structural reform to increase flexibility, adaptability and mobility within and across labour markets.

To promote free movement across borders, G20 governments should:

10. Reinforce the standstill on protectionism and wind back barriers introduced since the implementation of the standstill, especially non-tariff barriers.

11. Ensure preferential trade agreements (PTAs) realise better business outcomes by consulting with business, improving transparency and consistency and addressing emerging trade issues.

12. Work towards greater promotion and protection of cross-border capital flows and foreign direct investment (FDI) through a Model Investment Treaty.

To promote consistent and effective regulation, all G20 governments should:

13. Finalize the core global financial reforms in 2014 and establish a protocol for international rule-making processes commencing in 2015, which better engages the private sector to ensure rules are fit for purpose and fully take account of their impact on the real economy.

14. Ensure emerging market economies (EMEs) are effectively represented on global standard setters and that regulations reflect the social, economic and financial challenges faced by EMEs.

15. Review prudential and conduct regulation to ensure restrictions on access to finance do not unduly hamper financial inclusion, trade and commodity markets and finance for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

16. Promote longer-term investment by removing unnecessary regulatory disincentives, and developing local capital markets and financing instruments that better align risk and return.

17. Implement transparent infrastructure procurement and approvals processes that comply with global leading practice, including a commitment to specific timeframes for approvals.

To promote integrity and credibility in commerce, all G20 governments should:

18. Agree to harmonize laws related to anti-corruption that incentivize companies to build leading practice compliance programmes and self-report compliance breaches.

19. Enforce applicable legal frameworks such as the OECD Anti-bribery Convention and UN Convention against Corruption, and implement or strengthen a national independent corruption authority in each jurisdiction to monitor and enforce.

20. Endorse the G8 core principles on transparency of ownership and control of companies and legal arrangements.