Ronnie Goldberg Archives

African Employers Forum Focuses on Continent’s Response to Crisis

Published on May 26, 2009
Nairobi’s business district: Kenya and other African nations face declining capital inflows.
Nairobi’s business district: Kenya and other African nations face declining capital inflows.

Prior to the financial crisis, many parts of Africa were making good progress toward macroeconomic stability and reform of the business environment.  But the global recession hit the continent hard, significantly slowing growth and employment, spurring currency devaluations, declining investment and remittances from abroad, and falling prices for African commodities.

African governments, employers and workers must work together to respond effectively to the crisis.  This was the goal of the African Employers Forum, hosted by the Federation of Kenya Employers, May 18 and 19 in Nairobi.  The event brought together social partners from across the continent and overseas.

The forum, supported by the International Labor Organization as well as the International Organization of Employers, also celebrated the Federation of Kenya Employers’ 50th Anniversary.

USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg addressed the gathering.  She highlighted the increased attention being devoted to Africa under the Obama administration, with a doubling of U.S. assistance and efforts to strengthen the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides duty-free access to the American market for a range of products from the continent.

“Although U.S. aid to Africa increased significantly under the Bush administration, President Obama has promised to double it by the end of his first term,” Ms. Goldberg said.  “We also have a number of priorities in the areas of fighting poverty in Africa.”  She said the crisis had hit labor markets around the world very hard, but that as the economy improves in the U.S., more attention would turn to providing financial and technical support to mitigate the effects of the crisis in developing countries.

USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson sent a congratulatory message to the federation’s members.  “Companies represented by USCIB have long seen the African continent as a growing and vibrant source of opportunities for partnership,” he wrote, noting USCIB’s support for President Obama’s call for strengthening AGOA by improving technical assistance and infrastructure development, and by promoting closer regional cooperation on trade.

Staff contact: Ronnie Goldberg

More on the International Organization of Employers

Kenyan newspaper article on Ms. Goldberg’s remarks

Member Staff News Winter 200708

Published on January 15, 2008
Ronnie Goldberg
Ronnie Goldberg

USCIB Members Go Above and Beyond

A growing number are taking on the mantle of leadership, helping represent industry in key global forums

By Ronnie Goldberg

USCIB Executive Vice President – Policy and Program

USCIB often describes itself as a member-drive organization. For USCIB staff, that phrase conveys a variety of messages. It means, of course, that our members provide our financial support, and that your concerns and needs determine our policy priorities. But it also means that we have the privilege and pleasure of working directly with you, day in and day out. And it means that we owe a special vote of thanks to many of you for the time and trouble you personally dedicate to achieving our common goals. USCIB could not pursue its mission without you.

A growing number of USCIB members are giving the phrase “sweat equity” a whole new meaning. In addition to leading and participating in innumerable USCIB committee meetings, teleconferences and drafting sessions, they are regularly called upon to play leadership roles in our international affiliate organizations – for example, Charles Heeter
(Deloitte), currently chairman of BIAC. Members serve as officers-ud-736-UD-736 on BIAC and ICC policy committees – e.g., Geoffrey Gamble (Dupont), chair of the BIAC Trade Committee, or Michael Reilly
(Johnson & Johnson), vice chair of the BIAC Taxation Committee, or John Manfredi (Manloy Associates), who chairs the ICC Marketing & Advertising Commission, to name but a few.

Members devote countless hours to the details of international treaty negotiations – witness Ernie Rosenberg (Soap & Detergent Association) in the UN chemicals management talks, or Brian Flannery (ExxonMobil) in the UN climate negotiations. They ensure that the voice of business is heard in vital international forums – Joseph Alhadeff
(Oracle) in the UN Internet Governance Forum, David Benjamin
(Universal Music), in the BASCAP (Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy) initiative, Susan Crowley (Merck) in the World Health Organization.

USCIB members regularly provide our dedicated and talented staff with invaluable information, advice and expertise, on issues as diverse as nanotechnology – Rick Johnson (Arnold & Porter) – and Chinese regulatory policy – Tad Ferris (Holland & Knight) – subjects we could not hope to cover without your help.

In 2007, USCIB staff logged more miles, traveling to more far-flung international negotiations and meetings, than ever before. We expect 2008 to be even busier. Representing your interests in this way is our day job. But we could not do our jobs without the business leadership you exemplify, when you add USCIB citizenship to your own day jobs.

This message has singled out only a small sample of those we would like to recognize. Our appreciation extends to many more. We’re sure you know who you are. Thank you.

Roger Krueger Remembered

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Dr. Roger Krueger of Monsanto, who chaired ICC’s task force on the Convention on Biological Diversity, December 28 following a courageous fight with brain cancer. Dr. Krueger remained characteristically optimistic and continued his longstanding effort to improve the business community’s engagement in and contribution to the CBD throughout his last months. The CBD’s Executive Secretary has indicated his intention to publish a tribute to Roger. To honor his lifetime commitment and work on sustainable agriculture, the Krueger family has asked, in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (975 North Watson Road, St Louis, MO 63132).

USCIB Staff News

Josefa Sicard-Mirabal, director for North America with the ICC International Court of Arbitration, was recently named one of the 20 leading Latinas in business by Hispanic Business magazine. Josefa, who is based in USCIB’s New York headquarters, was also presented with the Corporate Leadership Award by the Dominican Women’s Development Center at its October gala dinner in New York. … We are delighted to welcome Jessica Berti to the USCIB team as a program assistant in USCIB’s Policy and Program Department. Jess is a graduate of Boston University and previously worked at the law firm of Weitz & Luxenberg.

 

Remarks by Ronnie Goldberg at G8 Labor Ministerial

Published on May 6, 2007

Remarks by Ronnie L. Goldberg

EVP and Senior Policy Officer, USCIB

Regional Vice President, International Organization of Employers

Delivered to the G-8 Labor & Employment Ministers Consultation

Dresden, Germany, May 6, 2007
  1. Introduction

I am honoured to express the views of the IOE, which represents 145 Employers Organizations in 140 countries around the world, on the subject of social protection. I would like to begin with a few general remarks:

Importance of Social Protection

Employers understand that social safety nets are an essential policy accompaniment to globalization. Indeed, fiscally responsible and sustainable safety nets are integral to well functioning and peaceful societies and therefore to economic growth and job creation.

But it would be counterproductive if social protection became a barrier to employment or the competitiveness of businesses. Job creation is both the best means of providing social security, as well as the key to sustaining it. And social security is a shared responsibility.

No one Size Fits All

Our message to you today is that while G8 and developing countries all face significant challenges in providing social protection to their citizens, these challenges vary profoundly. G8 governments have a role to play, both in addressing the coverage and sustainability of their social safety nets, but also in assisting developing countries in capacity building for sound social protection systems appropriate to their economies.

Regardless of the system adopted (public, private or a combination), we would like to highlight four characteristics of a well-functioning system that strikes an appropriate balance between the provision of social security and job creation, competitiveness and economic growth:

Sound administrative and financial management is essential;

Social benefit systems must make work pay and should encourage people to stay in the workforce.

Tax policies should not place undue burdens on workers or employers; and

Social policies should be linked with active labour market policies that serve economic growth and job creation anywhere.

  1. The Demographic Context

To a large extent, this policy response will be shaped by demographic reality. Let me share a few facts with you:

By 2050, world population is set to increase by some 2.5B people (from 6.7-9.2 B), the vast majority of whom will be born in less developed regions. Indeed, were it not for projected net migration the population of developed countries would decline.

Over this period the population of the 50 least developed countries will more than double. The populations of Afghanistan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Niger, Timor-Leste and Uganda are projected to at least triple.

In sharp contrast, the populations of 46 countries, including Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, most of the successor States of the former USSR are expected to be lower in 2050 than in 2005.

What does this mean for social protection? The answer lies not just in total numbers, but in distribution of population. Between 2005 and 2050, half of the increase in the world population will be accounted for by a rise in the numbers of those aged 60 years or over, and the number of persons under age 15 will decline. This trend is particularly acute in the developed world, where the population aged 60 or over is expected to nearly double.

In short, the vastly different economic, political, fiscal and social challenges facing policy makers in the developing and developed worlds are shaped and exacerbated by their differing demographic situations.

III. Developing Countries

Social protection in low-income countries typically confined to the minority of workers who are employed in the formal sector. Strengthening the capacity of these countries to design and implement social protection programs, should enable them to cope better with the social impact of economic reforms as well as help to increase popular support for the reforms themselves.

Thus, social protection policies need to be geared towards reducing the economic vulnerability of households. To have sustainable interventions, a more comprehensive approach is needed, one that draws attention to the large numbers of risks (e.g. illness; crop failure; conflict etc), and that proposes a variety
of instruments to deal with these diverse risks.

  1. OECD Countries

A very different context applies to most OECD countries, where policymakers must confront the challenge of an aging workforce.

Older workers represent an enormous pool of wisdom, skills and knowledge, and it is in everyone’s interest to create the right environments to keep all workers employable throughout their careers, from youth to old age.

Policies should aim at facilitating active aging and reducing obstacles to productive employment opportunities for older workers – for example, providing policy frameworks that increase the effective age of retirement, and making this feasible through pension schemes that do not penalize or make it impossible for older workers to continue gainful employment.

Longer working lives will require cultural shifts for both employers and employees. A climate conducive to workforce participation and ‘active ageing’ can be encouraged through such measures as

— Increasing the effective age of retirement;

— Diversifying working times and work organization, including encouraging part-time and temporary work;

— Increasing emphasis on lifelong learning;

— Analysing the effects of employment protection measures on enterprise creation and sustainability;

— Encouraging more wage flexibility; and

— Promoting effective job placement

  1. Conclusion

In sum, business calls upon the G8 to assist developing countries in capacity building for sound social protection systems. Here at home, we urge the modernization of social benefit systems in ways that are financially sustainable, and that encourage work across all age brackets.

Thank you.

Ronnie L. Goldberg’s Bio

More on the International Organization of Employers

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

ILO website

OECD Secretary General Welcomed in New York and Washington

Published on February 22, 2007
USCIB President Peter M. Robinson welcomed Mr. Gurría (center) and unveiled a new brochure on the OECD and business. Also pictured (L-R): BIAC Secretary General Tadahiro Asami, Amb. Connie Morella and BIAC Chairman Charles Heeter (Deloitte).
USCIB President Peter M. Robinson welcomed Mr. Gurría (center) and unveiled a new brochure on the OECD and business. Also pictured (L-R): BIAC Secretary General Tadahiro Asami, Amb. Connie Morella and BIAC Chairman Charles Heeter (Deloitte).

Angel Gurría, the former senior Mexican government official who took over as secretary general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development last year, was warmly welcomed by USCIB members and friends at receptions in Washington, D.C. and New York on February 14 and 15.

The Paris-based OECD is the main intergovernmental forum for consultation and cooperation on economic and social policy among the United States, Europe, Japan and other advanced industrial economies, and it provides policy guidance to non-member economies such as China, Russia and India.

The Washington reception took place at the offices of Alston & Bird LLP following a meeting of USCIB’s Taxation Committee.  Mr. Gurría, joined by Ambassador Connie Morella, the U.S. representative to the OECD, provided an advance look at USCIB’s upcoming OECD tax conference slated for this June, the third in a highly successful series of annual events focusing on the OECD’s influential work in areas like transfer pricing and reducing double taxation.

Ambassador Morella was also on hand at the Century Association in New York, where she was joined in welcoming Mr. Gurría by Tadahiro Asami of Japan, the new secretary general of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD, BIAC Chairman Charles Heeter
(Deloitte), former USCIB President Abraham Katz, now president of the International Organization of Employers (IOE), and USCIB President Peter M. Robinson.  Both BIAC and IOE form essential parts of USCIB’s global network.

In his remarks, Mr. Gurría reminded guests that the OECD’s founding charter mandated consultation with the business community, represented by BIAC, as an essential part of the organization’s structure.  He praised the depth of BIAC’s work and American representation within BIAC, and he singled out USCIB members for their staunch support of the OECD’s funding in the most recent U.S. budgetary cycle.

Mapping out the OECD’s agenda for the coming months and years, Mr. Gurría said that he hoped the organization would continue to play its central role of championing open markets while helping member countries address the challenges of global integration.  He warned that open trade and investment policies are under threat in a number of countries, both within the OECD and outside it.  Mr. Gurría also looked ahead to increased OECD policy guidance to non-member economies such as China and India, and he laid out plans for new work in promoting innovation, including an upcoming OECD ministerial on innovation and growth this May and a ministerial on the Internet in mid-2008.

Mr. Gurría, who served in the 1990s as Mexico’s foreign minister and later finance minister under President Ernesto Zedillo, became head of the OECD in June 2006, the first representative of a developing country to lead the 30-nation group.  He has made a top priority of broadening awareness of the OECD in the United States, especially in the business community and on Capitol Hill.

BIAC’s Mr. Asami, a former banker who became head of the OECD business group in January, also took advantage of the visit to meet with USCIB staff to discuss the range of American business engagement in BIAC and the OECD.  He said that while he was new to BIAC, he was very familiar with the work of the OECD from his work with the Bank of Tokyo and later with Japan’s Institute for International Monetary Affairs.

Mr. Asami noted that BIAC might wish to make a priority of expanding and intensifying the OECD’s engagement with potential members such as Russia, which is actively seeking OECD membership, and eventually China.  He said such a move could help both solidify the reform process and prevent backsliding in key emerging markets.  BIAC is actively working to engage business from non-OECD countries in Latin America and China, to complement current BIAC observer members from Russia, Latvia, Israel and India.

Staff contact: Ronnie Goldberg

More on the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD

New brochure: “The OECD Means Business” (PDF file)

More on the June conference, “New OECD Initiatives in the International Taxation Area: Looking Ahead”

OECD website