The International Chamber of Commerce attended the B20 Summit in Cannes on 2-3 November 2011

Sheikh Khalifa Bin Jassim Bin Mohammed Al-Thani, Chairman of ICC Qatar and Qatar Chamber of Commerce & Industry (QCCI), attended the Summit as the sole representative from the MENA region within the ICC G20 Advisory Group.

Preceding the Summit, Sheikh Khalifa along with a delegation of 20 business leaders from the ICC met with the French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris .

The B20 Business Summit, an initiative of the French presidency, which took place on the sidelines of the G20 Summit and saw the participation of 120 CEOs and chairmen from a number of global companies, as well as the presidents of the business confederations of the G20 countries.

ICC’s longer-term policy recommendations cover core areas of the G20 policy agenda where concerted global leadership by the G20 can deliver the policy environment needed for business to contribute to economic growth, job creation and sustainable development.

“It is hard not to pay heed to the growing calls by the global population to redefine the existing economy system. Talks about innovation in economics have long seemed a bit quaint. But recent years, and especially after the multiple recessions since 2008, have shown that time has come for an important stakeholder of the economy, the business community, to take the lead in shaping the policies,” said Sheikh Khalifa.

 In the run-up to the G20, the ICC conducted a global drafting and vetting process, drawing on business experts from across ICC’ global network to deliver constructive and actionable recommendations in areas including: trade and investment, financial regulation, anti-corruption, the international monetary system, commodity price volatility and green growth.

“Following a sequence of consultations from Mexico City to Hong Kong and Doha, we are now in a position to offer concrete policy recommendations to the G20, thereby improving the national and regional economic framework,” he added.

“The G20 should take a leading role in restarting multilateral trade negotiations, which have been durably stalled for the first time in 60 years. A global trade agreement would be a debt-free way to stimulate world economic growth” said Remy Rowhani, Director General of QCCI and CEO of ICC Qatar.

“It is a great honour for QCCI to be amongst the exclusive elite of the ICC G20 Advisory Group. Sheikh Khalifa, as the sole representative from the MENA region within CEO-led Advisory Group, is working very hard to introduce a set of policy views representing the priorities of the regional businesses.”

The ICC G20 Advisory Group – which comprises more than 20 members at the helm of global corporations such as Daesung, Hanwha, Infosys Technologies, Nestle, The McGraw Hill Companies, Repsol, Royal Dutch Shell and SEB – has been formed to develop constructive policy recommendations, adding weight to business interventions, strengthening statements to the media, and conveying to governments that business is engaged in the G20 agenda at the highest levels.

ICC also joined forces with WEF and MEDEF to more robustly canvas business input into the policy development process and convey the gravitas of global business views. Working together, the three groups have melded together a broader package of policy recommendations and presented these views to G20 leaders.