Corporate Responsibility and Labor Affairs Archives

ENGAGING BUSINESS: ADDRESSING CHILD LABOR

Published on May 17, 2009

Sponsored by the U.S. Council for International Business, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,

and the International Organization of Employersin Cooperation with the International Labor Organization

Hosted by The Coca-Cola Company

Atlanta, Georgia

February 25, 2009

Presentations:

(Benjamin Smith, Chief Technical Advisor, International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor, International Labor Organization)

(Benjamin Smith)

(Charita Castro, Operations and Research, Division Chief; Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking; US Department of Labor)

(John B. Trew, Senior Technical Advisor, Child Labor & Girls’ Education)

Industry Groups Say Union Card-Check Bill Violates Principles of International Law

Published on March 18, 2009

ballot boxNew York, N.Y., March 18, 2009 – The proposed “card-check” bill currently before Congress, which would effectively eliminate secret ballots for employees to form unions, may violate longstanding international legal principles, according to a joint letter from two top industry groups.

The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have sent a letter to Congress spelling out how provisions of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) contradict the principles of international labor law as defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO).

“It’s disturbing that labor unions, which for years have pressed for integration of ILO labor standards into U.S. law and trade agreements, would be pushing to introduce a system that violates ILO standards,” said Adam Greene, USCIB’s vice president for labor and corporate responsibility.

USCIB is the American employers representative to the ILO, a tripartite United Nations body with representation from governments, businesses and trade unions that sets international labor standards and works to promote improved labor practices worldwide.  The International Organization of Employers (IOE) is the worldwide organization that coordinates business participation in the ILO.

The joint industry letter highlighted two provisions in the card-check bill, which would modify the National Labor Relations Act.   They would effectively eliminate the secret ballot in union elections and impose a compulsory arbitration scheme to set the terms of initial collective bargaining agreements.  The business groups said these were inconsistent with the ILO’s 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

The ILO calls secret ballot elections the preferred means for workers to select a union, since workers face far less risk of reprisal.  The UN body also discourages compulsory arbitration schemes, saying they interfere with voluntary collective bargaining and freedom of association.

“Congress needs to think long and hard about whether we really want to place the United States so far outside the agreed international norms on this issue,” said Mr. Greene.  “Even prisoners of war, under the Geneva Conventions, are guaranteed the right to a secret ballot when electing their representatives.”

These arguments will be elaborated in more detail in a forthcoming article by attorney Stefan Jan Marculewicz in the IOE’s 2009 International Labor and Social Policy Review.

USCIB promotes international engagement and prudent regulation in support of open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility. Its members include top U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of our economy, with operations in every region of the world.  With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, including the IOE, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment.  More information is available at www.uscib.org.

Contact:
Jonathan Huneke, VP Communications, USCIB
Tel: +1 212.703.5043 (office) or +1 917.420.0039 (mobile)
E-mail: jhuneke@uscib.org

Joint industry letter on Employee Free Choice Act

Article: “Elimination of the Secret Ballot Union Election and Compulsory Arbitration Under The Employee Free Choice Act – A Violation of Fundamental Principles of International Labor Law”

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

USCIB’s Adam Greene Named to Advisory Body on Forced and Child Labor

Published on March 4, 2009
USCIB’s Adam Greene
USCIB’s Adam Greene

Appointment comes as forum spotlights child labor’s challenges to global supply chains

New York, N.Y., March 4, 2009 – Adam Greene, vice president of labor affairs and corporate responsibility with the United States Council for International Business (USCIB), has been named by the National Academy of Sciences to serve on the NAS Committee on Approaches to Reduce the Use of Forced or Child Labor, an important element in the Department of Labor’s efforts to prevent imports of goods made with prohibited forms of labor.

“We’re delighted that the National Academy of Sciences has recognized Adam Greene’s important contributions to the cause of combating forced labor and child labor,” stated USCIB’s President and CEO Peter M. Robinson.  “USCIB members take their responsibilities in this regard seriously and are working closely with Adam to ensure that forced and child labor are rooted out of global supply chains.”

The new committee will play an integral role in advising the Department of Labor on the framework for identifying those goods made with prohibited forms of labor.  The department is charged with developing a public list of all such goods by January 15, 2010.

Last week in Atlanta, USCIB, in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers (IOE), and the International Labor Organization (ILO), held a one-day international business forum on “Engaging Business – Addressing Child Labor,” hosted by The Coca-Cola Company.  Child labor experts from the ILO, business leaders and other key actors converged to share concrete experiences dealing with child labor from the local to the global levels as well as the growing business risks resulting from child labor in supply chains and how business can strengthen efforts to address child labor.

Speakers at the USCIB forum included Muhtar Kent, president and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, Brent Wilton, deputy secretary general of the IOE, Ed Potter, director of global workplace rights with The Coca-Cola Company, and USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg, a member of the ILO’s Governing Body who moderated a panel on the impact of child labor on business.

USCIB is the primary forum through which American business advances its interests in the area of international labor policy.  It works with the executive branch and Congress to develop trade policies that also promote sound labor practices. Serving as the U.S. affiliate of the IOE, which represents business in the International Labor Organization, USCIB was instrumental in the development of the ILO’s Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

In developing its list of prohibited goods, the Department of Labor will create a standard set of practices to reduce the likelihood that prohibited goods make their way into supply chains.  The new committee will advise the department on the framework for identifying and organizing such practices.

Mr. Greene is responsible for USCIB’s activities on labor and corporate responsibility.  He manages U.S. business participation in the development of international labor standards and advises companies on international and regional trends in labor and employment policy.  He also coordinates USCIB involvement in the governing and standard setting bodies of the ILO and promotes the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.  He serves as vice chair of the Business Technical Advisory Committee on Labor Affairs to the Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor.

USCIB promotes international engagement and prudent regulation in support of open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility. Its members include top U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of the economy, with operations in every region of the world.  With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, including the IOE, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment.  More information is available at www.uscib.org.

Contact:
Jonathan Huneke, VP Communications, USCIB
Tel: +1 212.703.5043 (office) or +1 917.420.0039 (mobile)
E-mail: jhuneke@uscib.org

Agenda of February 25 USCIB forum, “Engaging Business: Addressing Child Labor”

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

National Academy of Sciences website

World Employers: Financial Markets Need to Provide Stability and Liquidity to Business

Published on February 10, 2009
IOE President Prof. Wiseman Nkuhlu
IOE President Prof. Wiseman Nkuhlu

Lisbon and New York, February 10, 2009 – As governments around the world enact stimulus measures to deal with the recession, financial institutions must move quickly to speed the injection of new capital into struggling economies, according to the head of the International Organization of Employers.

“The financial markets need to fulfill their proper task of providing stability and liquidity to business, rather than serving their own interests,” stated IOE President Prof. Wiseman Nkuhlu of South Africa on the release of an IOE statement on the crisis at a forum in Lisbon.  “They must act to ease the current credit crunch and start circulating in the economy the cash injections received through various government stimulus packages.”

The Geneva-based IOE is the largest private-sector network in the world, representing national business federations in 140 countries.  It is the leading international business organization on social and labor matters, directly representing business in the International Labor Organization (ILO) and working closely with policy makers at all levels.  The United States Council for International Business (USCIB), based in New York, serves as the IOE’s American affiliate.

Just as the financial sector bore some of the responsibility for the onset of the crisis, it bears a similar responsibility for getting the economy moving again, said Prof. Nkuhlu, who spoke on the eve of an ILO European meeting in Lisbon.

“This easing of credit is particularly true for the small and medium-sized enterprises which form the backbone of our economies and employ our people,” he added.  “They are the sometimes forgotten majority in efforts to kick start the economy.”

Speakers at the IOE forum speakers provided a global overview of the impact and responses to the crisis.  In summing up the session, IOE European Vice President Renate Hornung-Draus of Germany spoke of the many similarities between countries in the identification of what employers see as critical in ensuring the life of enterprise and of the jobs they provide.

“Key support is needed to secure the fundamentals of growth,” she stated,” particularly in areas of ongoing investment in people through education and training.  The ILO meeting of European employers, workers and governments over the coming week needs to focus on the actions we all have to take to start moving forward again.”

IOE Executive Vice President Daniel Funes de Rioja of Argentina, who serves as employers’ vice chair of the ILO Governing Body, stressed the need to maintain an open trading system as a key means for business to revitalize its activities.

“We remain in a globalized world, and recent calls for a return to protectionist measures to satisfy short term political unpopularity must be actively and persistently resisted,” he urged.  “For example, a country like Argentina, which has itself had direct experience of a financial crisis, found a  key element in its recovery was its continuing to be able to access global markets.”

Within the ILO and elsewhere, employers need to be vigilant about adopting failed policies of the past as answers for the present difficulties,” warned Mr. Funes de Rioja.  “We owe it to our enterprises and to our citizens to remain focused on the real means of reviving growth and to make it happen quickly.”

The forum participants also benefited from the views and reflections on the impact of the crisis in their respective regions of USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg, who is IOE’s regional vice president for North America, as well as Yogendra Modi, chairman and CEO of Great Eastern Energy Corp. of India, and Francisco Van Zeller, president of the Confederation of Portuguese Industry.

USCIB promotes international engagement and prudent regulation in support of open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility. Its members include top U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of the economy, with operations in every region of the world.  With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, including the IOE, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment.

Contacts:
Antonio Peñalosa, IOE secretary general
+41 79.409.27.16 or ioe@ioe-emp.org

Jonathan Huneke, USCIB
+1 212.703.5043 or jhuneke@uscib.org

IOE statement: Economic Recovery and Employment

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

IOE website

Employers’ Vision of the ILO Summer 2008

Published on June 1, 2008

From the President’s Desk:

Focusing international labor policy on entrepreneurship and enterprise creation

By Peter M. Robinson

Peter M. Robinson
Peter M. Robinson

Globalization and the integration of international markets have been a tremendous benefit for the countries that have prepared themselves to take advantage of the new opportunities they provide. But for those countries that have failed to adjust or reform, these forces have exposed systemic failures in national governance that have in turn led to considerable social upheaval due to increased competition and changing labor markets.

Since social pressures can present a considerable barrier to maintaining or expanding international integration, a key policy challenge for international business is to develop effective mechanisms that can help countries reform their domestic policies to respond better to new external pressures. One such mechanism, the International Labor Organization (ILO) – the UN agency responsible for international labor and social policy – could play a leading role in this effort, and business is taking the lead to make it more responsive to employers’ needs.

Focusing on Current Needs

Abe Katz At the IOE’s May General Council meeting in Geneva, USCIB President Emeritus Abe Katz officially concluded his two-year term as the IOE’s chairman, passing the baton to Prof. Wiseman Nkhulu of South Africa. Mr. Katz noted the continuing relevance of the ILO to the conduct of international business, particularly at a time when the relationship between trade and labor standards has become an important political issue. USCIB President Peter Robinson and Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg also hosted a dinner in honor of Mr. Katz attended by employer members of the ILO Governing Body, business and labor union representatives to the International Labor Conference, and senior U.S. government and ILO officials. Many in attendance worked with Mr. Katz during his years as USCIB’s president (1984-98), when he served on the ILO Governing Body. Toasts were made by numerous participants, including IOE Secretary General Antonio Peñalosa, IOE Executive Vice Chairman Daniel Funes de Rioja, International Trade Union Confederation Secretary General Guy Ryder, and ILO Director General Juan Somavia. All reflected deep respect and admiration felt by colleagues from all sides. USCIB and its members have deeply appreciated Abe’s leadership over the past 24 years.
Abe Katz
At the IOE’s May General Council meeting in Geneva, USCIB President Emeritus Abe Katz officially concluded his two-year term as the IOE’s chairman, passing the baton to Prof. Wiseman Nkhulu of South Africa. Mr. Katz noted the continuing relevance of the ILO to the conduct of international business, particularly at a time when the relationship between trade and labor standards has become an important political issue. USCIB President Peter Robinson and Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg also hosted a dinner in honor of Mr. Katz attended by employer members of the ILO Governing Body, business and labor union representatives to the International Labor Conference, and senior U.S. government and ILO officials. Many in attendance worked with Mr. Katz during his years as USCIB’s president (1984-98), when he served on the ILO Governing Body. Toasts were made by numerous participants, including IOE Secretary General Antonio Peñalosa, IOE Executive Vice Chairman Daniel Funes de Rioja, International Trade Union Confederation Secretary General Guy Ryder, and ILO Director General Juan Somavia. All reflected deep respect and admiration felt by colleagues from all sides. USCIB and its members have deeply appreciated Abe’s leadership over the past 24 years.

The main challenge in making the ILO more effective and relevant for the business community is to focus its machinery on developing practical and workable solutions to current social and labor policy challenges. The global business community took a significant step forward in this area when the International Organization of Employers (IOE) – one of USCIB’s key international affiliates – produced an Employers’ Vision of the ILO, a comprehensive business agenda for the ILO.

Developed under the direction of Abe Katz (see box), the outgoing chairman of the IOE and USCIB’s president emeritus, the Employers’ Vision presents a clear agenda for the ILO that promotes entrepreneurship and enterprise creation, the main ways jobs are created and sustained. The vision also calls for increased attention on productivity improvements through education, skills development and training.

The IOE also calls for international labor standards that are practical and implementable.  Many existing standards set goals so impossibly high that few countries ratify them, and those that do so are unable to enforce them. Similarly, the IOE paper stresses that the ILO must help countries reform labor laws and other regulations that stifle enterprise creation and job growth, and which force operators into the ineffective and constraining informal economy.

International Business Leadership

Changing the ILO will not be easy or painless. A key reason for hope is that the ILO has a tripartite structure that is unique in the UN, meaning that employers and trade unions share voting power with the ILO’s member governments and participate in its oversight and management. USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg was recently re-elected to a second term on the ILO Governing Body.

On a broader level, USCIB relies on the IOE to coordinate international business engagement in the ILO. I was able to see the IOE in action at the annual International Labor Conference in June, when representatives of the IOE’s 145 national affiliates from 138 countries gathered in Geneva to speak on behalf on their business communities. The IOE is poised to build on the considerable achievements of Abe Katz in his term as IOE chairman under the new leadership of Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, chairman of Pan African Capital Holdings of South Africa.

For more information or to get involved, please contact USCIB’s Adam Greene  (212-703-5056, agreene@uscib.org).

Mr. Robinson’s bio and contact information

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

Learn more about the IOE

Other recent postings from Mr. Robinson:

New Financial Challenges on the Horizon (Spring 2008)

Trade Can Save the Climate (Winter 2007-2008)

From E-Commerce to the “Internet Economy” (Autumn 2007)

Business and Human Rights, Revisited (Spring 2007)

Event Spotlights Doing Business in Africa

Published on March 25, 2008
L-R: Peter Robinson (USCIB), Michael Klein (World Bank), Alex Cummings (Coca-Cola).
L-R: Peter Robinson (USCIB), Michael Klein (World Bank), Alex Cummings (Coca-Cola).

What are the lessons for African governments, and for global companies, in the latest edition of the World Bank’s benchmark “Doing Business” reports? This was the focus of a high-level World Bank briefing on March 12 at the University Club in New York, co-sponsored by USCIB and Coca-Cola Africa. The event attracted top African diplomats resident in New York, along with business representatives and others from the policy community.

The annual Doing Business report examines which countries make it easiest – and which hardest – to start and run a business. It compares ten indicators of business regulations across 178 countries, analyzing government regulations that enhance or restrain business activity, and it ranks countries on their overall ease of doing business.

USCIB hosted the launch of the 2008 Doing Business report in September of last year at an event featuring World Bank President Robert Zoellick.

The March 12 session featuredl Michael Kein, vice president for financial and private sector development at the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector arm, who led an overview of the Bank’s criteria for ranking countries and the factors for success among the African countries that ranked highly in the latest report.

According to Mr. Klein, business conditions have improved in some parts of Africa. In 2006-2007, 28 countries in North and Sub-Saharan Africa implemented reforms that made it easier to start and run a business. Egypt, Ghana, and Kenya were among the top ten reformers worldwide in the Doing Business 2008 report, and they also made the most significant advances in the aggregate ease of doing business rankings among countries in Africa. Overall, Mauritius topped the rankings in Africa on the ease of doing business and placed 27th in the global rankings.

Peter M. Robinson, president of USCIB, also spoke at the event, as did Alexander B. Cummings, president and chief operating officer of the Africa Group at the Coca-Cola Company. Mr. Robinson offered the assistance of USCIB and its global network – especially the International Organization of Employers (IOE), which has a strong African network – in the development and promotion of future Doing Business reports. An IOE delegation met in February with Mr. Zoellick and other top World Bank representatives to discuss this and other cooperative measures.

USCIB will continue its efforts to promote awareness of the Doing Business report by co-sponsoring a high-level seminar and dinner in June, at the New York Stock Exchange, at which the top ten reforming countries will be recognized. Additional information on the Doing Business report is available at www.doingbusiness.org.

Conference Examines the Often Unseen Face of Forced Labor

Published on March 7, 2008

Seeking to build greater awareness of the thorny problem of forced labor, stakeholders from business, government, NGOs and major international organizations gathered at a February 20 conference in Atlanta to explore how the private sector should address this complex issue in company operations and supply chains.

Coca-Cola CEO Neville Isdell told conference-goers: “No single business, nor all businesses together, can eliminate the evil of forced labor.”
Coca-Cola CEO Neville Isdell told conference-goers: “No single business, nor all businesses together, can eliminate the evil of forced labor.”

The event, entitled “Engaging Business: Addressing Forced Labor,“ was held at the headquarters of the Coca-Cola Company.  It was sponsored by USCIB, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the International Organization of Employers, part of USCIB’s global network, in cooperation with the International Labor Organization.

While child labor is relatively easy to identify, forced labor can be a more complex issue, especially in an era of lengthy supply chains.  “It is rare to find workers under lock and key, or physically forced to work under threat of violence,” according to an ILO briefing paper prepared for the conference.  “But there are a range of more subtle forms of constraint – such as inducing workers into severe indebtedness, confiscating identity documents of migrant workers, or deliberate non-payment of wages – which can be considered as forced labor practices under national laws or international standards.”

Forced labor is the subject of widely ratified ILO core conventions and is one of the principles of the ILO’s 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.  And while many codes of conduct at the company, industry and global levels reference forced labor, it has only recently gained attention in the business community as an issue that requires priority attention.

The meeting, which drew some 80 participants, drew on the experience and knowledge of a cross-section of multinational business and employer association participants in helping to formulate a global strategy for employers that can be used to identify forced labor, to provide means for its elimination and to give guidance on its remediation.  Participants reviewed a series of company case studies highlighting innovative solutions to eliminate forced labor.

L-R: Ronnie Goldberg (USCIB) and Donna Chung (Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg).
L-R: Ronnie Goldberg (USCIB) and Donna Chung (Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg).

The need for collaboration was a key theme of the full-day session. “No single business, nor all businesses together, can eliminate the evil of forced labor,” Neville Isdell, Coca-Cola’s chairman and CEO, told conference-goers. “It requires the coming together of the triumvirate of governments, civil society and business.”

Mark Lagon, director of the State Department office charged with combating human trafficking, spoke at the event, urging companies to exert leadership on the issue.

“Our message must be unambiguous and clear: both the public and private sector have zero tolerance for forced labor of any kind,” said Mr. Lagon.  “The unprecedented movement of labor and capital in chains of production of exportable goods promises many advances.  But without rule of law and good corporate citizenship, it also could lead to modern day slavery.”

Participating executives agreed, and said they appreciated the threats posed by forced labor.  “Companies in industries ranging from clothing to food processing to electronics are suffering reputational and business damage from allegations related to forced labor, human trafficking and child labor,” said Ed Potter, director of global workplace rights with Coca-Cola. “Our goal as a company is to continue to build our reputation as a recognized workplace human rights leader that can materially impact the sustainability of local communities where we do business.”

Staff contact: Ariel Meyerstein

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

The Coca-Cola Company’s website

ILO website

Employers Pledge Closer Action With World Bank

Published on March 7, 2008
L-R: IOE President Abraham Katz, World Bank President Robert Zoellick and IOE Secretary General Antonio Peñalosa.
L-R: IOE President Abraham Katz, World Bank President Robert Zoellick and IOE Secretary General Antonio Peñalosa.

Top representatives of global employers met with World Bank President Robert Zoellick and other bank officials on February 15 in Washington, D.C. to voice support for the bank’s annual “Doing Business” reports, which assess and rank countries based on how easy they make it to run a business, and to explore areas for future cooperation.

The delegation from the International Organization of Employers (IOE), part of USCIB’s global network and the voice of business in the International Labor Organization, was led  by IOE President Abraham Katz, who also serves as president emeritus of USCIB.  It included Antonio Peñalosa, secretary general of the IOE, Ashraf Tabani, president of the Employers’ Federation of Pakistan, and Ronnie Goldberg, executive vice president of USCIB, among others.

The meeting aimed at outlining the IOE’s views on – and support for – the Doing Business report, discussing how the World Bank should integrate and present employment and labor issues in future reports, and exploring areas for immediate as well as future cooperation between the IOE and the World Bank.  Joining Mr. Zoellick from the World Bank’s side were Michael Klein, vice president for financial and private sector development, and Simeon Djankov, who leads the team developing the Doing Business reports, along with several team members.

Mr. Katz expressed the IOE’s strong support for the Doing Business reports and highlighted their importance as a tool for labor market reforms and structural adjustment. He stressed the interest of national employers’ organizations in the report as a means of promoting reform in their own countries.  IOE delegation members also provided detailed comments on the relationship between the report’s labor indicators and pertinent ILO conventions.

On future areas of cooperation between the IOE and the World Bank, consideration was given to increasing IFC work with national employers’ organizations in the collection of data for yearly Doing Business reports.  Building on the success of last September’s launch of the 2008 report at a USCIB forum in New York, participants discussed organizing regional launches with IOE members in major regional hubs.

Areas identified for possible for future collaboration included vocational training and skills development, occupational safety and health, the informal economy, sustainable enterprise, youth employment, SME development, productivity and women’s entrepreneurship.  Participants also discussed holding annual top-level meetings between the IOE and the World Bank.

IOE website

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

 

Employers Cement Relationship With World Bank

Published on March 7, 2008
L-R: IOE President Abraham Katz, World Bank President Robert Zoellick and IOE Secretary General Antonio Peñalosa.
L-R: IOE President Abraham Katz, World Bank President Robert Zoellick and IOE Secretary General Antonio Peñalosa.

Top representatives of global employers met with World Bank President Robert Zoellick and other bank officials on February 15 in Washington, D.C. to voice support for the bank’s annual “Doing Business” reports, which assess and rank countries based on how easy they make it to run a business, and to explore areas for future cooperation.

The delegation from the International Organization of Employers (IOE), part of USCIB’s global network and the voice of business in the International Labor Organization, was led  by IOE President Abraham Katz, who also serves as president emeritus of USCIB.  It included Antonio Peñalosa, secretary general of the IOE, Ashraf Tabani, president of the Employers’ Federation of Pakistan, and Ronnie Goldberg, executive vice president of USCIB, among others.

The meeting aimed at outlining the IOE’s views on – and support for – the Doing Business report, discussing how the World Bank should integrate and present employment and labor issues in future reports, and exploring areas for immediate as well as future cooperation between the IOE and the World Bank.  Joining Mr. Zoellick from the World Bank’s side were Michael Klein, vice president for financial and private sector development, and Simeon Djankov, who leads the team developing the Doing Business reports, along with several team members.

Mr. Katz expressed the IOE’s strong support for the Doing Business reports and highlighted their importance as a tool for labor market reforms and structural adjustment. He stressed the interest of national employers’ organizations in the report as a means of promoting reform in their own countries.  IOE delegation members also provided detailed comments on the relationship between the report’s labor indicators and pertinent ILO conventions.

On future areas of cooperation between the IOE and the World Bank, consideration was given to increasing IFC work with national employers’ organizations in the collection of data for yearly Doing Business reports.  Building on the success of last September’s launch of the 2008 report 2007 at a USCIB forum in New York, participants discussed organizing regional launches with IOE members in major regional hubs.

Areas identified for possible for future collaboration included vocational training and skills development, occupational safety and health, the informal economy, sustainable enterprise, youth employment, SME development, productivity and women’s entrepreneurship.  Participants also discussed holding annual top-level meetings between the IOE and the World Bank.

Staff contact: Ariel Meyerstein

IOE website

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

 

World Bank President Unveils Latest Doing Business Report at USCIB Forum

Published on September 27, 2007

High Praise for World Bank’s Latest “Doing Business” Report

World Bank President Robert Zoellick
World Bank President Robert Zoellick

World Bank President Robert Zoellick unveiled the results of the bank’s latest annual study of business conditions and regulation worldwide at a USCIB forum in New York on September 26.  Business representatives were quick to praise the bank’s efforts to spur private-sector development.

The World Bank’s annual “Doing Business” report, begun five years ago, “has become the central benchmark for business regulatory practices all over the world,” stated Mr. Zoellick.

The report measures the time and the costs involved with setting up, running and closing a business in 178 countries around the world.  Mr. Zoellick said its comparative approach served as a spur to more effective business regulation.

“Governments don’t want to lag in rankings with countries they have to compete with for investment, or for exports,” he stated.  “And the potential for cross-country learning expands enormously.”

According to “Doing Business 2008,” countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union were among the leaders in improving the conditions for business.  Large emerging markets like China and India also made major progress, according to the bank’s “Doing Business 2008” Report.

The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm which prepares the report, ranks countries based on ten indicators of business regulation measuring the time and cost it takes to start and run a business, including rules governing trade, taxation and business closure.  Countries at all levels of development can gain by undertaking measurable regulatory reforms, it said.

“The report finds that equity returns are highest in countries that are reforming the most,” stated Michael Klein, the IFC’s vice president for financial and private sector development, who presented the report’s finding in detail.  “Investors are looking for upside potential, and they find it in countries that are reforming, regardless of their starting point.”

Business representatives at the event, hosted by JPMorgan Chase, praised the Doing Business report as a much-needed spur to investment, economic development and job creation.

Abraham Katz, president of the International Organization of Employers (IOE), congratulated the World Bank “for creating a reform movement that has already begun to increase development and improve people’s lives.”   The reports, he said, “identify the areas where reform is needed and, most importantly, provide the incentives for governments to act.”  The IOE, part of USCIB’s global network, issued a statement praising the latest Doing Business report.

Large emerging markets are reforming fast, noted Mr. Klein.  China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Turkey and Vietnam all improved their rankings significantly in the latest report.  Overall, Singapore was ranked as the easiest economy in which to do business, followed by New Zealand, the United States, Hong Kong and Denmark.  Eight of the top 25 countries in the latest ranking came from outside the OECD   The country that dropped the farthest: Venezuela, which went from number 144 to number 172, out of 178 economies surveyed.

“These reports target the root causes of slow growth in many countries, and they have had a measurable impact in promoting specific reform measures at the national level,” stated USCIB Chairman William G. Parrett, senior partner with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

In the area of employment regulation, business representatives at the USCIB event observed that the reports measure regulatory flexibility, and do not call for wholesale deregulation, as some critics have claimed.  The report’s indicators on employment are fully consistent with the International Labor Organization’s fundamental labor principles and rights, they said.

Mr. Katz emphasized the importance of simplicity and stability in national regulations.  “When I talk to business people, they stress the need for one-stop shopping to get the answers to their questions and to get action on their requests, for licenses and other matters that enable them to do business,” he said.  “They stress the importance of stability of regulations. They frequently say they could adapt to almost any regime as long as they know that the rules of the game have a certain permanence. Underlying everything is a legal system in which the right to private property is enshrined.”

Mr. Katz said employers around the world would welcome opportunities to contribute to future Doing Business reports.

Other speakers at the event included Tim Ryan, vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase’s financial institutions group, and Elizabeth Dibble, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for international finance and development, who moderated a discussion with the numerous business and government representatives in attendance.

IOE press release: Employers worldwide welcome World Bank efforts to support growth and development at the 2008 Doing Business launch (September 26, 2007)

IOE President Katz’s remarks at the forum

World Bank “Doing Business” report website

IOE website