New ICC G20 Business Scorecard reveals "incomplete" G20 performance

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on Tuesday launched the ICC G20 Business Scorecard, measuring progress on the G20's response to business recommendations, at a consultation between government officials and business leaders on the outlook for the G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico (June 18-19, 2012).

The Scorecard, unveiled at the ICC consultation in Washington, DC hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), marked G20 performance as "incomplete" in three out of four policy areas evaluated: trade and investment, green growth, transparency and anti-corruption, and financing for growth and development.

The aim of the Scorecard is to generate a balanced and reliable measurement of the G20's performance in response to business recommendations that have been put forward to G20 leaders, in particular on ICC priority issues including trade and investment.

"At a time when governments are struggling with excessive debt, multilateral trade liberalization would create jobs and drive economic growth," said ICC Secretary General Jean-Guy Carrier. "Countries can create enormous economic opportunities when they enhance cross-border trade and investment flows."

On trade and investment, the Scorecard gives the G20 a score of "incomplete," based primarily on its failure to help advance the Doha Round of trade negotiations.

"The Scorecard is a useful tool for business to monitor the G20's progress on the trade agenda," said Mr. Carrier. "G20 leadership to break the stalemate in WTO negotiations or to build a multilateral framework for investment advances would be reflected in a significantly higher score."

ICC upholds that if the G20 has better information on how its actions are interpreted by the business community this will help it set priorities, honour commitments, measure its own progress over time and identify deficiencies that deserve greater attention. In parallel, the business community should work more closely with the G20 to promote economic growth and job creation.

"Today's consultation is part of the business community's effort to play an increasingly influential role to support G20 actions to foster economic growth, promote open trade and investment, build a more stable financial system and improve the environment for doing business," said Harold McGraw III, ICC Vice-Chairman and Chairman and CEO of the McGraw-Hill Companies.

The Washington consultation featured discussions with Mr. McGraw, Michael Froman, the US G20 Sherpa and Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economic Affairs, Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's Ambassador to the US, and Alejandro Ramirez, CEO of Cinepolis and chair of the Mexican organizing committee for the 2012 G20 Business Summit.

Participants addressed key topics from the G20 policy agenda, including global financial recovery, financial regulation, international financial institution reform and the role of the Financial Stability Board. The G20's broader policy agenda was also addressed, including trade and investment, energy, green growth, anti-corruption and financing for development.

"For the past two years, ICC has canvassed the global business community and worked with G20 host countries to produce a set of business policy priorities. This meeting provided an important opportunity to share our views, gauge government responses and learn about G20 priorities for the upcoming Summit," Mr Carrier said.

The Scorecard is an important tool for business. Business leaders with better information on whether the G20 has recognized business input and how it has carried through on specific business recommendations are better able to adjust future recommendations and engagement with the G20.

To achieve the Scorecard results, ICC evaluated the G20's progress according to 57 business recommendations made since 2008. Subsequent editions of the Scorecard will be adapted based on shifting priorities and G20 actions. The Scorecard evaluates the G20's response to business recommendations based on three criteria:

1. Recognition: Has the G20 addressed an issue raised by business?

2. Action: Has the G20 taken action on this issue?

3. Adequacy: Is the G20's response or action adequate in addressing the issue?

An "insufficient" score indicates the G20 has not addressed the issue at all. An "incomplete" score signifies it has at least taken notice of the subject, however with little or no action taken in response. A "progress" score shows that the G20 has acted in line with the business recommendation, while "pass" means it has effectively addressed the business recommendation.

In addition to trade and investment, the Scorecard evaluated G20 work on green growth with an "incomplete" score; its actions on transparency and anti-corruption as "incomplete"; and its initiatives in terms of financing for growth and development with a "progress" score.

"A lot of work remains to be done in getting business issues addressed by the G20, but the progress so far is very encouraging. Business is already bolstered by the response it has received from the Mexican government in preparation for the G20 Summit and from Michael Froman at the consultation in Washington today," Mr McGraw said.

ICC has been providing input to the G20 since 2008 and now plans to issue the Scorecard yearly ahead of each Summit to help drive business priorities. ICC in 2011 established the ICC G20 Advisory Group, which now comprises approximately 30 CEOs, as an official platform for providing business input to the G20.

ICC, along with partner organizations including the World Economic Forum, has developed policy recommendations to the G20 in preparation for the G20 Summit. These policy recommendations cover the four themes of the Scorecard categories, as well as others.

About the G20 Advisory Group
The ICC G20 Advisory Group, an initiative of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), is a platform for global business to provide input to the work of the G20 on an ongoing basis. The Group mobilizes ICC's worldwide policy-making expertise and solicits priorities and recommendations from companies and business organizations of all sizes and in all regions of the world. The Group is comprised of approximately 30 CEOs working to ensure that the voice of business is heard by governments, the public and the media before, during and after each Summit.

About the International Chamber of Commerce
ICC is the world business organization, a representative body that speaks with authority on behalf of enterprises from all sectors in every part of the world. The fundamental mission of ICC is to promote cross-border trade and investment and the multilateral trading system, and to help business corporations meet the challenges and opportunities of globalization. Business leaders and experts drawn from ICC's global membership establish the business stance on broad issues of trade and investment policy as well as on vital technical subjects. ICC regularly advises the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations, including the World Trade Organization and the G20 on the views and priorities of international business. ICC was founded in 1919. Today it groups hundreds of thousands of member companies and associations from 120 countries. For more information please visit: www.iccwbo.org/g20.

SOURCE International Chamber of Commerce