Competitiveness and Innovation Archives

USCIB Event Concludes With Action Plan to Promote Food Security and Nutrition Partnerships

Published on November 5, 2018
USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson (center) speaks at the Rome event. USCIB food and agriculture lead Mike Michener (left)

With the future of food continuing to be a pressing global challenge and malnutrition profoundly affecting every country, The USCIB Foundation once again teamed up with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to organize a public-private partnerships dialogue to tackle malnutrition. The November 8-9 dialogue in Rome, Italy was a second in a series and was built on last year’s event in New York. USCIB CEO and President Peter Robinson participated in the event alongside Vice President for Product Policy and Innovation Mike Michener. Robinson spoke at the opening session and took part in a fireside chat conversation with GAIN Executive Director Lawrence Haddad, who is the winner of the 2018 World Food Prize.

This year’s event featured the theme of “Together for Nutrition: applying principles for public-private engagement.” The high-level dialogue explored practical and tangible ways to implement and scale coordinated initiatives to put the draft Principles, that were agreed upon last year, into practice. The program focused on both under-nutrition and the rise of overweight and obesity, as well as the associated diet related non-communicable diseases. Leaders of governments, development agencies, and the private sector from a wide range of countries, with a particular focus on developing countries with high burdens of malnutrition, participated in the dialogue.

This year’s event concluded with some important outcomes to help deliver results. GAIN and The USCIB Foundation are planning to take the Principles to donors such as developmental agencies, foundations, and companies interested in public-private partnerships. USCIB will also ask its member companies, with existing public-private partnerships to pilot the Principles of Engagement by applying them retroactively to the ongoing PPP. Michener, who leads USCIB’s work on food and healthcare, also emphasized the importance of engaging the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“We [GAIN and USCIB] will take the Principles to the Rome-based agencies, starting with a briefing for Permanent Representatives early in 2019, followed by the FAO Program Committee and the Executive Boards of WFP and IFAD,” he said. “We also plan to take the Principles to regional meetings, with the first meeting tentatively set for Africa in late 2019.”

Global food and agriculture constitute a US$7.8 trillion industry, employing up to 40 percent of the working population in many countries yet progress towards the ambitious 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is too slow and the scale and complexity of the problem underscores the need for deepened collaboration and renewed commitment to improving nutrition outcomes for all, especially the most vulnerable,” according to Michener.

“Countries cannot achieve their SDG goals without an aligned, motivated and incentivized private sector as a key partner,” said Michener. “In this context, improved dialogue and collaboration between government, business, civil society and international organizations is crucial for guiding engagement and focusing efforts where they can have the most sustainable impact and long-term success.”

ICANN Focuses on Policy Priorities for Domain Names

Published on October 30, 2018

ICANN 63’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) wrapped up on October 25 in Barcelona, Spain, marking the 20th anniversary of ICANN. The AGM brought together roughly 3,000 participants from business, government, civil society, and the technical community from across the world to focus on policy priorities for the domain name system (DNS).

The meeting was dominated by ICANN stakeholder efforts to develop a formal policy to replace the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data (Temp Spec).

“The Temp Spec was designed to ensure that ICANN and the industry of more than 1,000 generic top-level domain (gTLD) registries and registrars meet existing ICANN contractual requirements concerning the collection of registration data, as well as comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR),” reflected USCIB Vice President for ICT Policy Barbara Wanner. “A special group of ICANN’s policy-making body spent most of the meeting focused on moving forward the ‘expedited policy development process’ (EPDP) that must replace the Temp Spec by May 25, 2019.”

ICANN’s proposed Draft Framework for a Possible Unified Access Model for Continued Access to Full WHOIS Data (UAM) was also in the spotlight. At ICANN 63, the Business Constituency (BC), of which USCIB is a member, continued to press ICANN to undertake work to implement the UAM concurrent with the EPDP. In addition, the BC urged emergency interim measures to enable third-party access to WHOIS data, citing already extraordinary economic and security costs stemming from spikes in cybersecurity attacks, cybercrime, and brand and IP infringement.

Wanner participated in the October 20-25 meetings in her capacity as the BC’s representative to the Commercial Stakeholder Group (CSG), a position that has enabled greater input to policy discussions at the CSG executive committee-level on behalf of USCIB members and facilitated important meetings with senior ICANN officials and other key constituencies. At ICANN 63, in particular, this entailed coordinating with CSG partners to support the election of USCIB member Keith Drazek (VeriSign) to GNSO Council Chair, a position that will be key to shepherding work on the EPDP and third-party data access.

USCIB Defends Pro-Investment Policies at UNCTAD

Published on October 30, 2018

USCIB Vice President for Investment and Financial Services Shaun Donnelly was in Geneva last week (October 22-26) leading international business advocacy efforts at the annual World Investment Forum (WIF) hosted by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Donnelly led a small, but outspoken, group of business representatives, including the European Service Forum and BDI, Germany’s large business organization, and participated in a few sessions, being a constant business presence throughout the course of the week.

According to Donnelly, UNCTAD seems to remain a forum dominated by developing country representatives, academics, and non-government organization activists, often with anti-business orientations. UNCTAD did however include some leading CEOs from Novartis, Nestle, DeBeers and Ethiopian Airlines on opening plenary panels, all of whom provided excellent, candid remarks on why and how major businesses invest abroad. Donnelly and his colleagues followed suit.

“We spoke up forcefully the rest of the week on the important, indeed indispensable, role Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plays in financing economic development and providing critical capital for achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing economies,” noted Donnelly.

Donnelly was included as one of the kickoff speakers (the only one representing business views) at the annual high-level experts meeting on International Investment Agreements (IIAs). “We all need strong, comprehensive investment agreements, including effective Investor-State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”) enforcement provisions that are essential to support the required substantial FDI flows,” said Donnelly. “I also had the opportunity to directly challenge some European Union representatives pushing their bureaucratized ‘Multilateral Investment Court’ as an alternative to the proved ISDS systems.”

Donnelly also represented business on a side-event panel, alongside government representatives from Canada and Nigeria, that was organized by the UN Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the World Bank affiliate whose rules and procedures, currently being updated, have long governed most ISDS dispute processes.  Additionally, Donnelly was able to speak privately with senior government officials at, and on, the margins of various plenary sessions, panels and side events.

“We need to be realistic,” said Donnelly, reflecting on his week on the front lines of international investment policy debates. “After all, it’s UNCTAD and there are a lot of pressures out there, helpful or otherwise, pressing for major reforms of established treaties, rules, and procedures for protecting and incentivizing FDI flows.  ISDS is particularly under political attack.  A week on the front lines at UNCTAD, while not always fun, is something we need to do as a business community to be taken seriously in the global debates on investment policies, protections and procedures. I can’t say we carried the day but I hope we were able to give some of the serious, open-minded government representatives a few different perspectives on these important investment and SDG issues.  I emphasized that if the investment rules and procedures don’t work for business or aren’t perceived to fair and balanced, business isn’t going to invest. And no one wins.  If they truly are seeking productive solutions, governments and international organizations need to include business as a true partner in these investment policy debates and decision-making. Frankly, at this point, the jury is still out on whether that will really happen as governments consider moves to revise or replace investment long-established agreements. But we at USCIB intend to continue speaking up assertively on these important issues.”

Hampl Emphasizes Importance of Foreign Investment at OECD

Published on October 29, 2018

 

USCIB Senior Director for Investment, Trade and Financial Services Eva Hampl was in Paris last week participating in investment and trade related meetings at the OECD October 23-24. Hampl had a speaking role in every meeting, sharing business views, opportunities and concerns. Hampl’s speaking engagements kicked off with the Business at OECD consultation with the OECD Investment Committee. Business at OECD had submitted three short papers on issues of important to business in investment, covering issues such as investment policies related to national security, the importance of a well-designed investment protection mechanism and foreign direct investment qualities.

“We underlined the issue of global value chains and the rules-based trading system, specifically on the importance of strong investment protection mechanisms (ISDS), particularly in light of recent developments to erode those protection for many industries,” said Hampl. “The evening prior, we had an open and frank discussion with the Head of Investment in the OECD Secretariat, as well as the Chair of the OECD Investment Committee, which provided another opportunity to raise our various issues of concern in a more informal setting.”

Hampl also attended a joint meeting of the OECD Trade and Investment Committees, which included a presentation on the OECD Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) by the OECD. At the consultation, Hampl made an official intervention on behalf of Business at OECD, expressing USCIB’s support of the joint meeting, and raising some of USCIB’s priority issues, including the multilateral trading system (WTO reform), state-owned enterprises, and digital trade.

Additionally Hampl served as a discussant on behalf of Business at OECD at a Policy Network Meeting on the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Qualities, during which she expressed general support for the project and underlined the importance of investment. According to Hampl, the draft paper is quite good already, specifically stating that it is not attempting to categorize between good and bad investment, and is focused on measurable outcomes. Hampl also had the opportunity to underline the importance of an open investment environment and concern that recent trends of protectionist policies are harmful to business during her role as discussant in the First Roundtable on Investment and Sustainable Development.

 

USCIB Notes Importance of Free Data Flows for Economic Growth

Published on October 29, 2018
Eva Hampl (USCIB)

The OECD hosted its annual Global Forum on Trade on October 22 in Paris, which focused on Trade in the Digital Era. The agenda included sessions on digital transformation and what it means for trade, measuring digital trade, digital trade and market openness, data flows, and discussing priorities for trade policy makers.

USCIB Senior Director for Trade, Investment and Financial Services Eva Hampl participated in the event as a panelist in the session on data flows. Her fellow panelists included Deputy Assistant USTR for Telecommunications Policy Jonathan McHale, Head of Unit, Services, DG Trade Christophe Kiener, and Senior Policy Advisor, European Digital Rights Maryant Fernandez Perez. The session was moderated by OECD’s Julia Nielson, head of the emerging policy issues division. After a brief introduction from Nielson, OECD Trade Policy Analyst Javier Lopez Gonzalez set the scene by providing the audience with a short factual presentation on some of the key issues on data flows from a trade point of view.

“Free flow of data and information is critical for economic development and growth, and that data should be allowed to flow across borders in a secure manner,” said Hampl. “The free flow of data is now a central part of global value chains and a major requirement for a wide range of manufacturing and services industries. Consultation with business in the regulatory process is key in avoiding detrimental and counterproductive effects of problematic localization measures.”

“Looking forward, useful work in international forums includes continuing to address these issues in the G20, progressing the WTO E-Commerce initiative, and the OECD playing an important role not only in defining and quantifying these important issues, but also educating particularly non-OECD countries about the value of free data flows,” she added. Most of the panelists agreed that a fragmented approach is not sustainable.

The day-long event that focused on digital trade included engaged discussion in virtually every session, showing just how important this issue is to many countries. The OECD recognizes this issue as a key priority, and has several active work streams in this space.

Robinson Helps Celebrate World Food Prize

Published on October 23, 2018
L-R: Peter Robinson (USCIB), Jane Nelson (Harvard), Gov. John Hickenlooper, Ellen de Brabender (PepsiCo)
USCIB played an important role in marking this year’s World Food Prize, which was presented last week in Des Moines, Iowa
USCIB’s President and CEO moderated a panel on public-private partnerships to improve global nutrition

The World Food Prize is the foremost international honor recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. This year’s co-winner, Dr. Lawrence Haddad, brought the issue of nutrition to the forefront by using both economic and medical research to convince development leaders to make child nutrition an urgent priority in the global food security agenda. USCIB has partnered with Dr. Haddad’s organization, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to promote and strengthen public-private partnerships to help achieve global nutrition goals.

(Click here to read a Devex interview with Dr. Haddad.) A video of the event is posted below:

As part of this year’s World Food Prize celebration last week in Des Moines, Iowa, the 2018 Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium convened an impressive array of international leaders; policy makers; farmers; executives from agribusiness and non-governmental organizations; and scientific, academic and development experts to address the most critical issues facing global food security.

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson moderated a panel discussion with Dr. Haddad to highlight the importance of public-private partnerships in achieving optimal nutritional outcomes, framed by the GAIN-USCIB Guiding Principles of Engagement between Governments and Business to Improve Nutrition.The panel featured Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, PepsiCo Senior Vice President for Research and Development Dr. Ellen de Brabander, and Jane Nelson of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative.

The future of food continues to be one of the most pressing global challenges, with malnutrition profoundly affecting every country. Progress towards the ambitious 2030 SDGs is too slow; the scale and complexity of the problem underscores the need for deepened collaboration and renewed commitment to improving nutrition outcomes for all, especially the most vulnerable. Countries cannot achieve their SDG goals without an aligned, motivated and incentivized private sector as a key partner. Improved dialogue and collaboration between government, business, civil society and international organizations is crucial for guiding engagement and focusing efforts where they can have the most sustainable impact and long-term success.

Global food and agriculture constitute a $7.8 trillion industry, employing up to 40 percent of the working population in many countries. In recognition of the essential role played by the private sector, a dialogue was convened in October 2017 in New York by the USCIB Foundation and GAIN. This event developed a draft set of “Principles of Engagement” between the public and private sectors to help guide and promote greater positive collaboration.

A second high-level dialogue will be convened next month in Rome to explore practical, tangible ways to implement and scale coordinated initiatives to put the draft Principles into practice. The program will focus on both under-nutrition and the rise of overweight and obesity, as well as the associated diet related non-communicable diseases. Those invited to contribute to this dialogue will include leaders of governments, development agencies and the private sector, from a wide range of countries, with a particular focus on developing countries with high burdens of malnutrition.

USCIB Outlines AI Policy Priorities

Published on October 23, 2018
Digital technologies and the online environment enabled by them present unprecedented opportunity to raise productivity and generate economic growth.
Close cooperation with business can ensure that regulatory approaches create a holistic framework that enables business investment.

In response to a Federal Register request for information concerning the National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research and Development Strategic Plan, USCIB submitted comments outlining AI policy priorities.

“USCIB members believe that digital technologies and the online environment enabled by them present unprecedented opportunity to raise productivity, foster creativity and innovation, generate economic growth, build trust, and enhance social prosperity,” said USCIB Vice President for ICT Policy Barbara Wanner. “Key to realizing these social and economic benefits, however, are policies that ensure an open, safe, secure, stable, interoperable, seamless, and sustainable Internet.”

The comments submitted by USCIB emphasized that serving as essential complements are policies that encourage both private investment and public-private partnerships in the R&D needed to drive innovation and realize the potential of AI and other emerging technologies. Such policies are most effectively developed when informed by stakeholder engagement.

“Government policymakers can benefit from close cooperation with business, academia and other stakeholders to ensure that the legal, policy, and regulatory approaches implemented create a holistic framework that enables sustainable business investment in infrastructure and product innovation, includes technically feasible solutions, and offers appropriate privacy and human rights protections,” added Wanner. “The participation of a full complement of stakeholders best ensures that decisions concerning R&D and related policies avoid unintended consequences or outcomes that fall short of expectations. Importantly, a multistakeholder approach will help to build trust and dispel fears that could undermine realization of AI’s economic and societal benefits.”

Robinson Contributes Letter to FT on Making Internet Affordable to All

Published on October 23, 2018

FT featured a letter by USCIB CEO and President Peter Robinson in response to an editorial “The web should be open to all the world’s citizens” on October 11.

In the letter, Robinson emphasizes the important role of public-private partnerships as crucial to broadening access to the internet, noting that companies such as Google, Ericsson, Facebook, Intel and Microsoft are already moving ahead in this regard.

“Focused on driving prices down to meet the UN Broadband Commission target of entry-level broadband services priced at less than 5 percent of monthly income, they are working with governments and other stakeholders in countries as diverse as Nigeria, the Dominican Republic and Myanmar to make the internet more affordable and accessible,” writes Robinson.

The full letter can be found here, subscription to FT required.

Donnelly Talks Trade, NAFTA and USMCA in Vancouver

Published on October 22, 2018
Shaun Donnelly
Donnelly provided a Washington perspective on North American and global trade issues, focusing on NAFTA and its successor agreement, the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA).
USMCA is front page news across Canada so audience interest was high for Donnelly’s candid presentation.

USCIB Vice President for Investment and Financial Services Shaun Donnelly traveled to Vancouver, Canada the week of October 15 to deliver a keynote speech at the annual gala dinner of the Pacific chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada (AmCham Canada). Donnelly provided a Washington perspective on North American and global trade issues, focusing on NAFTA and the just-agreed successor agreement the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA).  USMCA is front page news across Canada so audience interest was high in Donnelly’s candid presentation and in the after-dinner panel discussion he joined along with former Canadian Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day and two prominent local business figures.

While in Vancouver, Donnelly was also the guest of honor at a reception for local political and business leaders hosted by the U.S. Consul General. Donnelly offered ten minutes of informal comments with a business perspective on the Washington and regional trade policy scene. Again, NAFTA and its putative successor USMCA were the main topic of interest.

Donnelly said it was a very useful trip. “Throughout my long Foreign Service career, I’ve always really enjoyed working with AmCham chapters around the world,” said Donnelly. “It was great to connect with the new Vancouver-based Pacific chapter of AmCham Canada. They are a great group! We had an really excellent exchange on the new USMCA and the path, or paths, ahead. Canada has long been a special partner for the U.S. in trade and investment and in so many areas.  USCIB and our member companies are committed to strengthening business ties across North America.”

Trump Nominates US Ambassador to UN in Geneva

Published on October 22, 2018
Trump nominated Andrew Bremberg to be the next Representative of the U.S. to the UN in Geneva with the rank of Ambassador.
Bremberg currently serves at the White House as special assistant to the President and director of the Domestic Policy Council.
Bremberg served as aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

In late September, President Trump nominated Andrew Bremberg to be the next representative of the U.S. to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva with the rank of Ambassador.  Bremberg currently serves at the White House as a special assistant to the President and director of the Domestic Policy Council.

Bremberg earlier served as an aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.  Like all Ambassadorial nominees, Bremberg must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before taking up his assignment in Geneva.  He will replace Ambassador Pamela Hamamoto, who departed the post in January 2017.  Since that time, the Deputy U.S. Representative, originally Ted Allegra, was recently replaced by Marc Cassayre as charge d’affaires.

USCIB has long worked very closely with the U.S. Mission in Geneva, including with the Ambassador, on a range of important issues in organizations such as the International Labor Organization (ILO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the UN Human Rights Commission. As the sole U.S. business organization with official status in these and other international organizations, USCIB is an important partner for the U.S. Government on a broad range of important and challenging issues for American business.

“Getting a new U.S. Ambassador nominated, confirmed and on the job in Geneva will be an important development, said USCIB CEO & President Peter Robinson.  It’s now been nearly two years since there has been an Ambassador in that post. “The U.S. Mission has been very active and effective in the interim and has been a great partner for USCIB and for American business.  But it’s always great to have a new Ambassador there to lead the effort. The fact the President tapped one of his own senior White House Assistants for this job is encouraging as a demonstration of the importance the Administration assigns to this particular post in Geneva. I look forward to getting to know Andrew Bremberg and to doing anything we at USCIB can do to help him and his team succeed in their important efforts.”