News Stories Archives

OECD Ministerial: Unlocking Investment for Sustainable Growth and Jobs

Published on June 3, 2015

oecd_forumBusiness welcomes the focus of this year’s OECD Ministerial meeting, which takes place under the overarching theme of Unlocking investment for Sustainable Growth and Jobs. Industry calls upon the OECD to speak up and convince countries of the need to remove the most persistent barriers to markets and put in place pro-investment policies.

Rob Mulligan, USCIB’s senior vice president for policy and government affairs, is in Paris representing USCIB members at and around the Ministerial and at the OECD’s annual Forum earlier in the week. USCIB represents U.S. business at the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD, which released a policy statement and recommendations ahead of the Ministerial on investment issues.

“A predictable policy framework and an effective cross-government approach are fundamental for investment,” said USCIB Trade and Investment Committee Chairman Rick Johnston at a ministerial panel discussion on Investment, Innovation and Business Climate. “This is recognized by the newly updated OECD Policy Framework for Investment. Fostering both domestic and foreign investment should be governments’ primary objective”.

The OECD Policy Framework for Investment (PFI) provides an important checklist across a range of different policy areas to assist governments in creating an enabling investment environment. BIAC has been an active partner in the update of the PFI and calls for sustained efforts to ensure its implementation, notably as part of the post-2015 development agenda. BIAC strongly believes that policies that foster innovation and investment opportunities will also be key for the transition to a low-carbon economy.

BIAC also called for strengthening global value chains and financing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). “Actions are urgently needed to step-up SME financing and enable companies to participate in global value chains”, said Phil O’Reilly, BIAC’s chairman, speaking on June 4 at a BIAC-B20 Turkey special event.

BIAC’s five recommendations on Unlocking Investment for Sustainable Growth and Jobs are laid down in a 2015 Statement to the OECD MCM.

IOE Stresses B20 Recommendations for Skills Development and Inclusive Labor Markets

Published on June 2, 2015

Portrait of mechanics

At the plenary session of the B20 Task force in Paris on June 2, International Organization of Employers President Daniel Funes de Rioja set out the two principal recommendations of the Employment Task Force for facilitating skills development and ensuring flexible and inclusive labor markets.

Funes underscored the need for labor markets that include women and young people – two groups that stand to benefit from a regulatory environment that boosts participation rates.  He also made the case for removing barriers to diverse employment arrangements, such as part-time and flexible-hour contracts, for advancing the education of women in countries where there are deficiencies in this area, and improving child care facilities.

He noted that addressing the skills mismatch was key for keeping pace with rapid technological change and innovation, and in preventing the under-skilled from being left behind.

“I urge governments to involve national employers’ organizations, the IOE’s members around the world, in the development and implementation of G20 National Employment Plans (NEPs),” said Funes. “Employers have expertise and experience in the design of work-readiness programmers to bridge the skills gap and can make a substantial contribution to the NEP exercise.”

USCIB’s global network will continue to monitor progress in the G20 employment work stream. “Only by being accountable will the G20 become the engine for much needed labor market reforms to boost growth and jobs,” Funes concluded.

 

From Drift To Deals: New Report Charts Way Forward on World Trade

Published on June 2, 2015

Peterson%20Report_sourceThe International Chamber of Commerce launched a new report prepared by the Peterson Institute on the margins of the OECD Forum in Paris. “From Drift to Deals: Advancing the WTO Agenda, sets out a roadmap for a “grand bargain” to bring the long-stalled Doha Round of trade talks to a conclusion and restore the centrality of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as a forum for trade liberalization.”

“An immediate priority for all WTO members must be concluding the remaining aspects of the Doha Round,” said ICC Secretary General John Danilovich. “We call on governments to accelerate the ongoing negotiations aimed at paving the way for a political agreement at the WTO’s next ministerial conference in December.”

The report outlines a work program to carry out a “grand bargain,” whereby developed countries would make concessions on agriculture market access and developing countries would agree that subsets of WTO members can enter into plurilateral agreements within the WTO framework. The report also reviews nine trade realms that await liberalization and it offers recommendations for agreements on several topics at or around the WTO including the Trade Facilitation Agreement, a Services plurilateral agreement, and an expanded Information and Communications Technology agreement or “ITA II.”

Download a copy of the report.

 

OECD Continues to Review Colombia Accession

Published on June 1, 2015

As the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development continues its review of Colombia’s accession process, USCIB and other business groups have raised concerns about the country’s market access. Specifically, industry is concerned about the country’s policies on alcoholic beverages, pharmaceutical and healthcare products, and scrapping incentives.

USCIB worked with the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD to produce one-page issue papers that were shared with OECD Trade Committee government officials, outlining Colombia’s policies:

The next OECD trade committee meeting will take place in November, at which point the Trade Committee will review whether Colombia has made any adjustments to its market access policies.

WSIS Forum: ICTs Necessary for Sustainable Development

Published on May 29, 2015

WSISDuring the 2015 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum in Geneva, convened under the auspices of the United Nations, governments underscored the importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as engines for economic growth and as crucial elements of the post-2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals, reports Barbara Wanner, USCIB’s vice president for ICT policy.

Further enriching the forum’s discussions, USCIB member companies such as Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Verizon, The Walt Disney Company, and Wiley Rein made important contributions to both plenary sessions and workshops on topics as diverse as privacy and security, child online and digital citizenship, empowering women to innovate, and innovation in accessibility technologies.

Government officials, business leaders and members of civil society and the technical community assembled in Geneva from May 25 to 29 for the WSIS stock-taking meetings to review a decade-long progress on promoting the use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) as engines of economic and social development. The forum was hosted by the UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU), together with co-organizers UNESCO, UNCTAD and UNDP.

A recurring theme in speakers’ remarks throughout the week was the importance of broadening awareness about the indispensable role played by ICTs in realizing the post-2015 SDGs.

“ICTs are cited in only four of the 17 sustainable development goals,” ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhao noted in launching a special high-level session on May 26, suggesting that this is not a proper reflection of their developmental potential. “ICTs are a catalyst and enabler in development; they support capacity building efforts in areas as diverse as health, gender equality and sustainable farming,” Zhao said.

“This year’s forum, which marks the tenth anniversary of WSIS, was especially important because the UN General Assembly will evaluate its progress and decide its future at a special High-Level Meeting that likely will be held during the week of December 14,” said Wanner. “Virtually all speakers therefore sought to highlight the developmental value of the WSIS process.”

Other themes included the importance of business investment as an impetus for developing new technologies, the need for all stakeholders to be involved Internet governance, renewing the mandate of the Internet Governance Forum as a neutral space for exchanging best practices and capacity-building expertise, and the use of ICTs to empower youth and achieve gender equality.

Addressing a high-level dialogue on gender empowerment, USCIB Member Cheryl Miller (Verizon) described digital gender empowerment as “a community issue, not just a man’s or a woman’s issue.” Miller also shared the success of Verizon’s “Tech Girls” initiative, which brings to the United States young women from Africa and the Middle East to learn coding as well as shadow senior executives at Verizon.

Speaking on the same panel, Paul Mitchell (Microsoft) elaborated on various initiatives Microsoft has undertaken to close the digital gender gap. Digi Girls, for example, teaches High School-aged girls how to do podcasts, create web pages, and so forth. Microsoft recognizes that increasing women in technology and computing has the potential to greatly improve the design of products and services, he said.

On the subject of leveraging ICTs to empower youth, Ellen Blackler (The Walt Disney Company) explored Disney’s investment in entertainment products designed to develop critical thinking skills that the younger generation will need for future success as a productive contributors to the digital economy. Disney recognizes that the Internet “is essential to everything going forward [so that] the biggest risk is that kids will not have the [requisite] digital skills,” she said.

Business plays a central role in harnessing ICTs for economic and social development. USCIB’s ICT Policy Committee Vice Chair Joseph Alhadeff (Oracle), who delivered a policy statement on behalf of ICC-BASIS, highlighted how business investment has served as an important impetus for economic growth and development of technologies benefitting society. For this reason, we must have a policy environment that enables emerging economies to tap the developmental potential of emerging technologies such as cloud computing, Big Data, and the Internet of Things, he urged.

USCIB Extols Importance of Investor-State Rules

Published on May 28, 2015
Shaun Donnelly (center) at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs
Shaun Donnelly (center) at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs

USCIB’s Shaun Donnelly, vice president for investment and financial services, took the U.S. trade agenda to Spain last week, advocating for the benefits of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and debunking myths about Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).

Donnelly spoke with business and university groups about the U.S.-EU trade deal and especially about ISDS, which remains controversial in Europe, at the invitation of the U.S. Embassy in Madrid and the Consulate General in Barcelona. He gave the keynote at an all-day conference on May 27 on “TTIP Negotiations: Caught Between Myth and Reality” hosted by leading Spanish think tank CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs).

On May 28, Donnelly traveled to Madrid where he spoke at the U.S.-Spain Council‎, the IE Business School, the Foundation for Research in Law and Business, and at a young entrepreneurs association. He also did a radio interview for the U.S. Embassy’s website.

Donnelly, a retired State Department economic officer, former ambassador, and former USTR trade negotiator, has done five TTIP and ISDS public-speaking tours around Europe for the State Department and U.S. embassies over the last 18 months.

Also last week, the European Union Parliament’s trade committee backed a resolution in support of TTIP, including a provision on ISDS.

Angel Gurría Re-elected Secretary General of the OECD

Published on May 26, 2015
L-R: Peter Robinson (USCIB); Angel Gurría (OECD); and Charles Heeter (former BIAC Chairman and USCIB board member); at a 2006 USCIB reception welcoming Gurria as new OECD S-G).
L-R: Peter Robinson (USCIB); Angel Gurría (OECD); and Charles Heeter (former BIAC Chairman and USCIB board member); at a 2006 USCIB reception welcoming Gurria as new OECD S-G).

Angel Gurría was re-elected secretary general of the OECD on Tuesday, May 26, with a renewed mandate.

“USCIB congratulates Secretary General Gurria on his reelection,” said USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson. “Through our affiliation with the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, we have appreciated the opportunity to work with the Secretary General in providing private sector views to the OECD. We look forward to continuing that relationship during his third term.”

The unanimous decision by the 34 member countries of the OECD to renew secretary general Angel Gurría’s mandate for the period 2016-2021 was an acknowledgment of his work to shape a more relevant, inclusive and open organization.

“I am honored and humbled by the trust and confidence the members have bestowed upon me, and look forward to continuing to transform the OECD into a cutting-edge international organization to promote better policies for better lives,” said Gurría.

Read the full OECD media release.

USCIB Calls on WHO to Frame Non-Discriminatory and Pro-Partnership Policy on Non-State Actors

Published on May 26, 2015
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell addressed the World Health Assembly in Geneva. WHO Director General Margaret Chan is at right.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell addressed the World Health Assembly in Geneva. WHO Director General Margaret Chan is at right.

Governments have decided to postpone action on a controversial proposal to broaden anti-business discrimination and limit participation by   non-state actors in the work of the World Health Organization. On the final day of the 68th World Health Assembly, WHO member states opted to continue discussions of the draft Framework for Engagement of Non-State Actors (FENSA) for another year.

“FENSA proved to be one of the most contentious topics on the WHO’s agenda for this nine-day session,” Norine Kennedy, USCIB’s vice president for international engagement, energy and environment, reported after attending the Geneva assembly. “Despite meetings that carried through the weekend and late into last night, many aspects of the issue are still not resolved as the assembly adjourns today.”

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell was among the ministers and other dignitaries who addressed the World Health Assembly. “This is an important gathering, because as the world witnessed with the Ebola virus this past year, our planet is too small for nations to operate in isolation when it comes to facing major health challenges,” said Secretary Burwell. “Health threats don’t recognize borders, and we must recognize our need for global solutions.”

Earlier this month, in a joint letter to U.S. cabinet officials, USCIB and other U.S. business groups voiced concerns “about proposals on the table that could unjustifiably restrict the WHO’s ability to engage with the private sector in support of its mission.” Kennedy said the impact on business would touch many industries, and create precedents for anti-business bias in other UN forums. USCIB members and staff, including Helen Medina, USCIB’s vice president for product policy and innovation, were on hand during the World Health Assembly to continue dialogue with government representatives on practical ways to inform WHO deliberations with rigorous technical input and implementation from the private sector.

WHO members agreed to establish an intergovernmental working group on FENSA to continue discussions, with the objective of delivering a conclusion at next year’s World Health Assembly. A first meeting of the working group is tentatively scheduled for October.

Kennedy added that business is still concerned about specific provisions in the current draft FENSA text. These include prejudicial language citing the need to exercise “caution” with respect to certain unnamed industry sectors, overly bureaucratic and complex procedures for both non-state actors and WHO secretariat, and limits on public-private partnerships.

“At a time when the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals highlight private-sector engagement on global health challenges, we believe it is possible to address potential conflict of interest and other important concerns consistently and transparently, while also strengthening and encouraging private-sector involvement in the WHO’s important work,” said Kennedy.

Internet Governance Forum: Key Advisory Group Endorses USCIB Workshop Proposals

Published on May 22, 2015

IGF 2015 logoThe Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) wrapped up its second, three-day Open Consultation today, making important headway in planning the 2015 IGF, which will be held November 10-13 in João Pessoa, Brazil. Barbara Wanner, USCIB’s vice president for information, communications and technology policy, reports from Geneva.

The MAG approved two USCIB-proposed workshops – from among the more than 250 proposals submitted by stakeholders from business, government, civil society, and the technical community. The group also made preliminary decisions concerning the substantive focus of the main IGF plenary sessions, which support the overarching theme of “Evolution of Internet Governance: Empowering Sustainable Development.” Finally, the Brazilian organizers announced the launch of the IGF 2015 website, which will be continually updated in the coming months with important information about the program and logistics.

The two workshops put forward by USCIB will showcase industry expertise on 1) the intersection of trade, inclusion and trust, and 2) using ICTs to address disabilities. In addition to Wanner, panelists will include Eric Loeb (AT&T), chair of USCIB’s ICT Policy Committee, and Jacquelynn Ruff (Verizon). The MAG also approved three workshops championed by USCIB and the International Chamber of Commerce on extending the IGF’s mandate, jobs and the digital economy, and ICTs and sustainable development.

According to Wanner, the MAG consultations made progress in numerous other aspects of planning for the 2015 IGF. “In sum, it was a productive meeting that produced agreement on 100 workshops and stimulated discussions that ultimately will produce a substantively rich conference,” she said.

 

Business Groups Recommend WHO Engagement with Private Sector

Published on May 16, 2015

WHO_hq_full_sizeThe World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations public health arm, is updating its procedures for working with non-governmental and business interests. USCIB has followed these deliberations for the past year and has offered recommendations that argue for consistent treatment of all constituencies, without discrimination against private sector entities, and that enable public-private partnerships.

The sheer scale of world health challenges requires all stakeholders to be actively involved in addressing public health challenges. However, USCIB and other associations have expressed concern that the some proposals relating to these WHO procedures could further limit the WHO’s ability to fully benefit from the private sector’s practical expertise, resources and research.

On May 14, USCIB and five other business associations signed a letter to U.S. cabinet officials at the Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services stating concern “about proposals on the table that could unjustifiably restrict the WHO’s ability to engage with the private sector in support of its mission.”

The signatories urged the United States to ensure that the WHO adopts a framework that applies equally to all stakeholders, and that allows the organization to benefit from resources wherever they reside.

“If the WHO adopts a framework that improperly excludes or unjustifiably restricts engagement with the private sector, it will not only endanger the WHO’s own credibility and functioning but also set a damaging precedent that could discourage ongoing public-private partnerships and private sector involvement in other international fora,” the letter stated.

Norine Kennedy, USCIB’s vice president for international engagement, energy and environment, added: “In an era where health crises have become increasingly international, such as the recent Ebola outbreak, the WHO should make full use of its leadership and resources by pursuing global health responses through multi-stakeholder initiatives in which the private sector has a vital role going forward.”