The B20 summit is an annual two-day conference aimed at the global business community. This year it is held in Bali commencing on the 13 - 14 November and it is running alongside the G20 summit, where the world’s major economies, representing about two-thirds of the world’s population, will gather to discuss ways to reach global economic stability. This article will analyse the major points made during the conference.
The B20 summit was originally established in 2010 and it is aimed at companies and business organisations that want to create a reliable network of business opportunities and deliver policy recommendations to the G20 Presidency which this year will be taking place in Indonesia.
The lineup of the summit includes keynote speakers who will address global challenges: 100 speakers coming from more than 30 countries. Furthermore, the summit is also anticipated to welcome more than 1500 companies that operate in more than 65 countries.
According to the official B20 website, to face the most pressing economic issues, there have been created seven task forces on the following subjects:
- Trade & investment
- Energy, sustainability & Climate
- Digitalisation
- Finance & Infrastructure
- Future of Work & Education
- Integrity & Compliance
- Women in Business Action Council
The summit was introduced by the Chair of the B20 Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, who thanked all the participants for having shown up and highlighted the priorities of the conference, which include 25 policy recommendations and 68 policy actions.
Kamdani said that these priorities were “built upon the progress of previous B20 presidencies and at the same time we have also strived to push the boundary of our thinking, offering a fresh perspective and novel solutions for specific challenges we wanted to address this year.”
In addition, she stated how important sustainability has become for the business community and announced that each policy recommendation formulated promotes a series of SDGs, which stands for Sustainable Development Goals.
The Chair announced that the summit formulated three breakthrough areas: innovation for equitable post-crisis growth, inclusion for sustainable development and collaboration across developed and developing countries for resilient and sustainable growth.
Innovation
Due to the recent pandemic, there has been a boost in technological innovation, but the Chair argued that not everyone has benefited from it. To recover from this inequality, it is essential to “build the foundation for equal and robust access” for the underserved part of the population.
The recommendations for this area have been promoted by the Digitalisation, Integrity & Compliance, Finance & Infrastructure task forces and include:
- The implementation of measures aimed at making sure the digital world is “people-centered, responsible and safe”
- Promoting much broader access to projects that guarantee equitable growth
- Close the gap in the digital divide
Inclusion
The global economy does not need to fixate around the sole perspective of multinational companies: smaller and local businesses/entrepreneurs have throughout history made a significant impact in the global economic advancement.
This year’s B20 believes in the importance of all stakeholders. It has assigned the Energy, Sustainability & Climate, Women in Business Action Council and Trade & Investment task forces to develop policies that:
- Are more inclusive of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
- Safeguard the protection of women in the workplace
- Implement sustainable business practices
Collaboration
Some of the most pressing issues we are faced with today include climate change, pandemic aftereffects, supply-change disruptions and energy scarcity. These challenges have recently shed a light into the importance of collaborating between developed and developing economies in order to reach global prosperity.
The Trade & Investment, Energy, Sustainability & Climate and Integrity & Compliance task forces had the duty to advice on policies that:
- Incentivise the green transition
- Build resilience amongst different economies in order to prevent future economic plunges
- Ensure safer cooperation
Before giving the stage to the multitude of panelists presenting at the summit, the Chair made a final call-to-action by remarking that “we should embrace the spirit of teamwork to solve these complex issues. Not one country, not one company and not one institution can fix these problems alone and this is the spirit of the B20 and the G20 — building a nurturing multi-stakeholder collaboration to address the challenges the world is facing today.”
Photo credit: https://b20indonesia2022.org
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