IOE Welcomes Business Reforms Reported in World Bank Doing Business 2016

Published on November 19, 2015

The World Bank’s Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency finds that 85 developing economies implemented 169 business reforms during the past year, compared with 154 the previous year. High-income economies carried out an additional 62 reforms, bringing the total over the period to 231 in 122 economies.

The majority of the new reforms were designed to improve the efficiency of regulations by reducing their cost and complexity, with the largest number of improvements made in “Starting a Business.” A total of 45 economies, 33 of which developing, undertook such reforms. India, for example, eliminated the minimum capital requirement and a business operations certificate, saving entrepreneurs unnecessary bureaucracy and five days’ wait. Kenya simplified pre-registration procedures, reducing incorporation time by four days.

Efforts to strengthen legal institutions and frameworks were less common, with 66 reforms implemented in 53 economies. The largest number of such reforms were carried out under “Getting Credit,” with 32 improvements – nearly half in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“A modern economy cannot function without regulation and, at the same time, it can be brought to a standstill through poor and cumbersome regulation,” said Kaushik Basu, World Bank chief economist and senior vice president. “The challenge … is to tread this narrow path by identifying regulations that are good and necessary, and shunning ones that thwart creativity and hamper the functioning of small and medium enterprises.”

Singapore retains the top spot in the global ranking of the most business-friendly regulatory environments. The top ten also includes New Zealand (2); Denmark (3); Republic of Korea (4); Hong Kong SAR, China (5); United Kingdom (6); United States (7); Sweden (8); Norway (9); and Finland (10).

Read the full report.

More information available at the International Organization of Employers website.

USCIB Participates in 4th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights

Published on November 16, 2015

The 4th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights got underway this week in Geneva, convening hundreds of government officials, business leaders, civil society representatives and representatives from the UN and other international organizations to track progress and promote policy coherence around business and human rights, specifically the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

The Guiding Principles, which were prepared under the stewardship of former UN special representative on business and human rights John Ruggie, established a framework under which states are obligated to protect and fulfill the human rights of those in their jurisdiction, while businesses, both foreign and domestic, are responsible for respecting these rights throughout their operations. The principles also propose a framework for greater access to effective remedy for human rights victims.

Prior to the forum, the business community issued a statement supporting respect for human rights as a critical component of implementing the UN’s recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals. USCIB co-signed the document along with nine other business organizations.

Ariel Meyerstein, USCIB’s vice president for labor affairs, corporate responsibility and corporate governance, is attending the forum in Geneva along with USCIB members. On November 16, he participated in a business pre-meeting hosted by the Canadian Embassy with other business associations including the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers, the UN Global Compact and many more. Also on Monday, Meyerstein spoke at a panel on “Unpacking the Guiding Principles in Investment Disputes.”

On November 17, Meyerstein will moderate a panel about “SME’s, Informality and Human Rights: Challenges and Solutions,” as well as serve as a panelist on a discussion about “Measuring and Tracking Businesses’ Implementation of the Guiding Principles” and another on “Access to Remedy – Roles and Responsibilities of States Concerned in Crossborder Cases.”

Videos of some of these panels will be made available on UN TV. More information will be forthcoming after the conclusion of the forum.

Call for Participation: USCIB-NYU Human Rights Summer Fellowship

Published on October 23, 2015

In order to run companies sustainably, business leaders must have an awareness of human rights and corporate social responsibility issues and an understanding of how to confront them. Students in MBA programs across the country have recognized these as permanent features of a globalized business landscape. Yet there are still far too few outlets for students to gain practical experiences in corporate responsibility, including sustainability and human rights issues.

To address this gap, USCIB has partnered with the NYU Stern Business School to offer a summer fellowship program to students seeking professional learning opportunities in corporate responsibility, sustainability and human rights. USCIB is inviting member companies to participate in the 2nd year of the Business & Human Rights Summer Fellowship for Summer 2016. The fellowship program matches talented NYU Stern MBA students interested in corporate responsibility with USCIB members willing to provide a hands-on summer internship opportunity.

The fellowship also has a training component in which USCIB and Stern will cover major corporate responsibility and human rights issues and related skills, like human rights due diligence and corporate reporting. The training will introduce the fellows to expert practitioners so fellows can provide even more added value to companies upon arriving at the start of the summer.

Last year, two fellows interned with USCIB members PepsiCo and DirectTV Latin America. The fellows discuss their experiences in blog posts here and here, as well as in the video below:

The fellows had very substantive experiences, completing tasks through their internships that contributed directly to key business operations and strategy in the area of CSR, sustainability and human rights, which included:

Developing more than 100 indicators tracking Public Relations, Institutional Relations, Anti-Piracy and Corporate Social Responsibility for a metrics dashboard created to quantify team’s impact across 10 countries in the quarterly management report;
Creating a business case for a company educational initiative to transition into a 501c(3) entity. Built financial model and offered recommendations in areas of costs, new markets entry and partnerships;
Analyzing inter-departmental work flows at the corporate and country operational level to forecast team budget until 2020 and propose plan for sustained growth;
Developing metrics and reporting on new corporate function dedicated to supply chain visibility and responsible sourcing;
Managing external relationships and produced guidance materials for internal stakeholders to facilitate change management agenda in global procurement and operations; and
Identifying and recommended sources of competitive advantage through benchmarking analysis of strategic peers and buyers on voluntary reporting and publicly disclosed sustainability efforts.

Companies willing to host a fellow for a 10-week, paid position working on corporate responsibility, human rights or sustainability issues should contact Ariel Meyerstein.

More information is available in this FAQ about the fellowship.

USCIB Provides Business Voice at UN Discussion on Informal Economy

Published on October 19, 2015

USCIB Vice President Ariel Meyerstein participated as a lead discussant at a panel at the United Nations on “Promoting Inclusive Growth: Transitioning from the Informal to the Formal Economy” on October 16. Meyerstein provided the private sector perspective on the challenges associated with informal employment. The panel followed this year’s earlier release of the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Recommendation on Transitioning from Informal to Formal Economies.

Formalizing employment is of strategic significance for millions of workers and enterprises around the world who are working and producing in precarious and vulnerable conditions. It is estimated that half of the global labor force and 90 percent of small businesses operate in the informal economy, with women and youth disproportionately engaged.

The panel discussion provided a platform for governments and development partners to explore how the transition from the informal to the formal economy could contribute to enhancing productivity, innovation and achieving inclusive growth and decent work for all. Panelists explored how the ILO recommendation can contribute to the fulfillment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and identified the policies needed to promote the transition from the informal to the formal economy.

Meyerstein addressed how the ILO recommendation is important to the business community and what the role of the private sector is in ensuring formalization.

(Meyerstein’s presentation begins at 1:27:00.)

“The employers actually proposed this recommendation,” Meyerstein said. “You can see this emphasis on economic growth and job creation expanding the attractiveness of the formal sector. That’s something we were pushing for and it’s good that it’s in the recommendation.”

Meyerstein provided examples of how businesses can facilitate the transition from the informal to the formal economy, including USCIB member Mastercard’s partnership with Egypt to provide all citizens with a national ID, thereby expanding financial inclusion. He noted that part of the solution to addressing informality is making the formal economy more attractive to businesses. He concluded by saying that employers can also help by addressing youth unemployment and the skills mismatch, and he mentioned the Global Apprenticeship Network, a project by the International Organization of Employers designed to teach youth the skills they need to join the formal economy.

ICC: Business Leaders Call for Collaborative SDG Effort

Published on September 29, 2015

Business leaders representing companies with operations in over 190 countries have thrown their weight behind the new UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs – launched at a major summit in New York during the UN General Assembly – set out a new vision for a brighter, safer and more prosperous world for all. In a letter to the Financial Times the business leaders wrote: “Many businesses are already playing a leading role in promoting sustainable development, but with the right support and incentives from government we can do much more. A collaborative effort is also required to enable the transformation of business practices towards sustainability more broadly – including within the small business sector.”

Commenting on the release of the letter, ICC Secretary General John Danilovich said: “This is a clear and visible demonstration of the business community’s commitment to the new Global Goals. We call on governments to work constructively with the private sector to deliver fully on the promise of the SDGs”.

Read the full text of the letter at ICC’s website.

Call to Action: Bringing Down Legal Barriers for Women’s Economic Empowerment

Published on September 28, 2015

The global economy has much to gain from the full empowerment of women. As arguably the world’s most underutilized resource, women are essential to increasing economic growth, establishing more just societies, improving quality of life for families and communities and boosting the profitability of enterprises.

Around the world, too many laws still discriminate on the basis of gender, with dramatic consequences on women’s ability to contribute to economic growth. To address these injustices, USCIB partnered with the United Nations Global Compact, the International Chamber of Commerce, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, the International Labor Organization, the World Bank Group and other organizations to “call upon Governments from around the world to bring down legal barriers restricting economic opportunities for women, and by doing so, help create an enabling environment for inclusive economic growth.”

The call to action was publicly launched on Saturday September 26 at the Private Sector Forum held during the UN General Assembly, the day after the UN Sustainable Development Goals were launched. A number of USCIB companies are actively involved in initiatives to fulfill Goal 5 of the SDGs, which is focused on empowering women and several others have taken a lead role in the UN Global Compact’s “Business for Rule of Law” initiative and other rule of law promotion activities.

USCIB has been active on women’s empowerment for some time. In March, USCIB co-organized an event titled “Bringing Down the Barriers: Women, Business and the Rule of Law,” held in parallel with the UN meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (CWS) and in support of the 2014 World Bank report on Women, Business and the Law, which evaluated the economic impacts of gender discrimination laws across the world. USCIB has also taken a lead role in authoring a number of reports with BIAC for the OECD’s work on empowering women.

Forging a Path for Business in the UN 2030 Development Agenda

Published on September 25, 2015

L-R: Amina Mohammed (UN), Peter Robinson (USCIB), Alex Thier (USAID) and Shawn Miles (MasterCard). — L-R: Amina Mohammed (UN), Peter Robinson (USCIB), Alex Thier (USAID). Shawn Miles (MasterCard) and moderator Matthew Bishop (The Economist).

USCIB welcomed the agreement reached today by the United Nations General Assembly of the UN 2030 Development Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A product of extensive consultation with all stakeholders, the SDGs represent the UN’s most ambitious vision for sustainable development. These goals will reshape the practice of development globally as well as the private sector’s role in building a more prosperous, healthy world.

USCIB is deeply engaged in all aspects of the UN 2030 sustainable development agenda, advocating for good governance and the rule of law, inclusive economic growth, investment in infrastructure, enabling environments to foster innovation, strong public-private partnerships and above all, an open channel for business input into policy negotiations and implementation at the international and national levels. USCIB feeds into UN development agenda as the U.S. national committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), which chairs the Global Business Alliance for Post-2015 and the Finance for Development Business Sector Steering Committee.

“The 2030 Development Agenda identifies the private sector as part of the solution, in more meaningful and concrete ways than ever before,” said USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson. “This is an agenda that we can support, and are indeed already supporting, because we in the business community have helped to build it.”

Business for 2030 Launch Event

On September 24, over 100 business leaders, government officials, UN delegates and representatives from business and civil society attended USCIB’s launch event for its Business for 2030 web portal, which showcases the private sector’s contributions to the SDGs.

Part informative resource, part catalog of business engagement, Business for 2030 features over 120 examples from 30 companies in over 100 countries of how businesses are helping to achieve 70 of the 169 SDG targets. Business for 2030 highlights concrete initiatives and public-private partnerships to inspire renewed trust in the private sector, and to catalyze sustained and active business engagement in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“We wanted to highlight concrete initiatives and partnerships that our members and partners are undertaking to support the 2030 Agenda,” said Robinson. “We believe that Business for 2030 can inspire renewed trust in the private sector, while catalyzing active, sustained business engagement in support of the SDGs.”

At the half-day event held at the Harvard Club, USCIB member companies and international business representatives discussed the examples featured on Business for 2030 with the broader development community, with a focus on the critical role of infrastructure and the need to transform public-private partnerships. USCIB organized the event in partnership with Bechtel, MasterCard and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA).

High-level speakers introduced the event and framed the discussions around the private-sector engagement. Robinson and Amina Mohammed, special adviser to the UN secretary general on post-2015 development planning, gave opening remarks. A panel discussion followed, moderated by Matthew Bishop of The Economist with Alex Thier, assistant administrator for policy, planning and learning at USAID; and Shawn Miles, executive vice president for global public policy at MasterCard.

“It is really exciting times,” said Mohammed, addressing business leaders in the room. “Grab this opportunity.”

Mohammed said partnerships with businesses of all sizes would be encouraged, and that the private sector will be provided with incentives to invest in achieving the SDGs.

View photos of the event (Flickr)

Meeting with WTO Director General and ICC’s SDG Business Forum

The importance of cross-border trade and investment as a key facilitator of achieving the SDGs was a core theme of discussion this week.

On Friday, September 25, USCIB Vice Chairman Dennis Nally hosted a meeting with Roberto Azevedo, director general of the World Trade Organization, with Peter Robinson and ICC leadership.

“The ultimate success of many of the SDGs‎ – including for example those dealing with climate, infrastructure, and access to water and sanitation – will depend on transfer of technology and know-how,” said Robinson. “The WTO will play a critical role as the facilitator and delivery mechanism for that process.”

Also on Friday, ICC hosted the day-long SDG Business Forum, providing solutions and resources for sustainable development by 2030. The event brought together CEOs, heads of state, UN delegates and civil society leaders to discuss what business is already doing in support of the SDGs, and how business can be an effective partner and contribute positively to the implementation of the new UN development framework.

Business for 2030 Portal & Talks about Infrastructure and Partnerships

During the Business for 2030 launch event on September 24, USCIB Vice President for Labor Affairs and Corporate Responsibility Ariel Meyerstein gave a well-received virtual tour of the Business for 2030 website.

“This site showcases business’ past and continuing contributions to sustainable development through the prism of the SDGs,” said Meyerstein. “The goal of the site is to stimulate a more productive partnership between the public and private sectors at the UN and at national levels and to demonstrate the need for a proportionate role for business in the negotiations, implementation and follow-up mechanisms of the 2030 development agenda.”

L-R: George Ingram (Brookings), Angela Baker (Qualcomm), Terri Bresenham (GE), Mike Eckhart (Citi) — L-R: George Ingram (Brookings), Angela Baker (Qualcomm), Terri Bresenham (GE) and Mike Eckhart (Citi)

The event’s first panel – “Infrastructure in the 2030 Development Agenda: Highlights from Business for 2030” – addressed the challenges of public-private sector cooperation around building infrastructure. Because infrastructure is so critical for development and so often implicates the core duties of the state, the stakes are high to achieve results in a cost-effective manner. This issue raises the bar for how national governments work with the private sector, including the critical need for more comprehensive strategic planning at the national level that involves all stakeholders.

“Fifteen years ago, this conference wouldn’t have happened. It was all about official development assistance,” said Ingram. “I’m at the end of a 180 degree change in my lifetime. Today, the private sector is being seen as the essential driver of inclusive development.”

L-R: Adeeb Mahmud (FSG), Karen Newman (UNDP), Gilbert Houngbo (ILO), Mario Ottiglio (IFPMA), Carlos Cornejo (MasterCard) and Claus Stieg Pederson (Novozymes) — L-R: Adeeb Mahmud (FSG), Karen Newman (UNDP), Gilbert Houngbo (ILO), Mario Ottiglio (IFPMA), Carlos Cornejo (MasterCard) and Claus Stieg Pedersen (Novozymes)

The second panel on “Transforming Partnerships in the 2030 Development Era” addressed the UN’s call for renewed global partnerships for sustainable development. The private sector and civil society are invited as key players in achieving the SDGs, creating opportunities for business to leverage its collective resources to help steer and amplify the UN’s development efforts. For that to happen, however, governments need to create the right enabling environments for business.

“The Debate is Over”

The event concluded with remarks from Erik Solheim, chair of the development assistance committee at the OECD. He enthusiastically exclaimed that “the debate is over” in the development community over whether the private sector is a force for good.

“The evidence is so overwhelming that the private sector is part of the solution,” he said. “Without the private sector, development wouldn’t be possible.”

Now that the debate is won, he explained that the next step is to determine how governments and businesses can establish practical and effective partnerships to achieve the goals of the 2030 development agenda. For example, public-private partnerships have had enormous success in limiting childhood mortality around the world. Going forward, all stakeholders must come together to help set up practical partnerships.

See the event agenda.

Engaging Business Forum: Demonstrating Respect for Human Rights

Published on September 21, 2015

L-R: Brent Wilton (Coca-Cola), James Plunkett (U.S. Chamber of Commerce), Ariel Meyerstein (USCIB), Linda Kromjong (IOE)

Since the United Nations Human Rights Council endorsement of the landmark UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011, USCIB, The Coca-Cola Company, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the International Organization of Employers (IOE) have organized an annual forum on business and human rights to foster candid discussion on the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. The forum built upon earlier annual discussions of how companies can keep forced labor and child labor out of their supply chains.

The Guiding Principles, which were prepared under the stewardship of former UN special representative on human rights John Ruggie, established a framework under which states are obligated to protect human rights in their territories, while businesses, both foreign and domestic, are responsible for respecting these rights throughout their operations. The principles also propose a framework for greater access to human rights victims to effective remedy.

The 2015 Engaging Business Conference took place on September 17 at Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta under the theme of “Addressing the Challenges of Demonstrating Respect for Human Rights.”

The day-long forum drew over 100 company executives, along with select representatives from the public-sector, NGOs and the UN for discussions on the importance of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and the challenges faced by business in demonstrating respect for human rights in their operations.

Speakers at the event included Ariel Meyerstein, USCIB’s vice president for labor affairs, corporate responsibility and corporate governance, Linda Kromjong, secretary-general of the IOE, James Plunkett, director of labor policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Brent Wilton, director of global workplace rights at Coca-Cola. Company presentations came from representatives of Barrick Gold Corporation, Coca-Cola, HP and Kosmos Energy.

“This event underscored the strong commitment and ingenuity that leading American and global businesses bring to addressing the human rights impacts of their operations,” said Meyerstein.

The event’s agenda is available here.

Wilton framed event with an overview of the challenging systemic issues that impact respect for human rights for businesses today.

“The global human rights agenda for business continues to evolve. For eight years now these conferences have given participants an opportunity to hear from those who are shaping that agenda as well as from peer companies who are working to give effect to the corporate responsibility to respect human rights,” said Wilton. “The conferences provide a safe place for information sharing, networking and knowledge building. There is no one answer to the challenges we all face in this space and no one person has all the answers. However, by coming together we all benefit from the collective experiences and knowledge present in the room.”

The following overarching topics were discussed by panelists and participants throughout the day:

Supply Chain Impacts: forced labor and land rights
Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining: linkage to human rights
Human Rights Due Diligence: how to do it, the importance of transparency and understanding stakeholder expectations
Human Rights Remedy: a discussion of business’ accountability for remedy and what effective remedies look like

Meyerstein moderated the panel on “Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining.” Following the panels, participants held breakout sessions to share experiences and insights.

Business Leadership on the United Nations SDGs

Published on September 14, 2015

The United Nations has embarked on an ambitious effort to define forward-looking objectives – the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – to address global economic, social and health challenges. This exercise represents a unique opportunity to mobilize the international community around the importance of private sector-led growth and a more robust, inclusive global economy that makes significant strides towards eradicating poverty and improving the lives of people everywhere. The UN will formally adopt the SDGs and other elements of its 2030 Development Agenda at the SDG summit in New York from September 25 to 27.

USCIB believes that sustainability is best advanced by creating policy frameworks that catalyze the global marketplace and the business community’s role in developing solutions to environmental and other societal challenges. The private sector will be an essential partner to bridging the gap in finance and technical capacity necessary to meet the challenge of the 2030 Development Agenda and the specific agreed-upon SDGs.

“Business has made continuing contributions to sustainable development and wishes to encourage greater collaboration and partnership between the public and private sectors as we collectively make progress towards new practical SDGs in September and beyond,” said USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson.

This is a landmark year that will define the global development agenda for the next 15 years. The financing needed to achieve the SDGs by 2030 will far surpass current official development flows, so the international community will have to leverage complementary forms of financing, including from the private sector.

Progress at Addis Ababa Conference

At the UN’s Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) in Ethiopia July, UN member states established a new financing framework to support sustainable development for the next 15 years. The final text—known as the Addis Ababa Action Agenda—sets out the means of implementation, including technology, domestic resource mobilization and blended finance and investment for the SDGs. USCIB played a central role in marshaling business input into FfD3, having worked actively with members and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to ensure that the private sector’s voice was heard at the development finance conference.

USCIB and its global network are also playing a lead role in providing business views to the UN and its member states on the SDGs, emphasizing the importance of integrating broader environmental, economic and social elements – including targets for improved national governance – into a wider concept of sustainable development.

This year, USCIB launched its “Business for 2030” website, designed to showcase the private sector’s contributions to the UN SDGs. The site is a resource for those who wish to learn more about the UN’s 2030 Development Agenda and its impacts on international business, and it serves as a catalog that illustrates how private companies are helping to achieve each one of the SDGs. Dozens of USCIB members have contributed case studies to Business for 2030, and we encourage others to get involved.

“Sustainable development is everyone’s business,” said Robinson. “The private sector is demonstrating that it can and should be a valuable partner in the UN’s mission to raise living standards and promote a cleaner, healthier and fairer world.”

USCIB’s Meyerstein Reappointed to NAC for Labor Provisions of U.S. Free Trade Agreements

Published on September 2, 2015

On August 25, U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez appointed Ariel Meyerstein to serve another term as member of the National Advisory Committee for Labor Provisions of U.S. Free Trade Agreements (NAC).

In this capacity, Meyerstein will serve on a multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee that advises the Secretary of Labor through the Bureau of International Labor Affairs on the implementation of labor provisions in existing U.S. free trade agreements with labor provisions (currently 19).

“I’m honored to continue serving in this important role,” said Meyerstein. As a member of the NAC, Meyerstein will help assure that the implementation of existing agreements help to level the playing field for global businesses by continuing to develop U.S. trade partners’ capacity for regulating their own labor markets by assuring for worker protections in line with the standards in U.S. law and policy.

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