Nestlé Chairman calls for action from G20 leaders

Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe yesterday led a collaborative business group at the G20 Seoul Summit 2010 calling for leaders to “walk the talk” and engage in decisive action.

At this year’s Summit in the Republic of Korea, a total of 12 G20 Business Summit working groups – consisting of around 120 corporate chairmen and CEOs – produced a joint statement report to outline the most pressing challenges of the global economy and detailed targets for economic priorities.

Mr Brabeck-Letmathe, who headed the Encouraging and Strengthening Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) working group roundtable, stressed the critical contributions of FDI on global growth and summarised that “decisive action will be required to regain momentum on FDI long-term flows”.

The group recognised the great potential of the African continent and agreed that FDI and Public and Private Partnerships (PPPs) will be key to unlocking its potential.

Key recommendations proposed by the group included ensuring broadening monitoring of changes in conditions for private investment; ensuring a clear and enforceable legal framework; working towards a multilateral framework for investment; and building a better understanding of the mainly positive impact of FDI (creation of shared value).

Opened by Head of State Jacob Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Zuma backed the conclusions of the working group and marked the challenges ahead, given the diversity in the development of national economies and difficulty to align national interests.

The target set by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to “encourage the private sector to now assume the leading role in generating growth”, resulted in group discussions and debates over the duration of four months ahead of the Summit.

Mr Brabeck-Letmathe was joined by working group members Roque Benavides, CEO of Buenaventura; Vladimir Bogdanov, President of Surgutneftegas; Umit Boyner, President of TUSIAD; and William M. Daley, Chairman of the Midwest for JP Morgan Chase.

The group also included Rafael Del Pino, Chairman of Ferrovial; Ali Kibar, Vice Chairman of Kibar Holding; Khalid Al Jasser, CEO for Bank Al Bilad; Eivind Kolding, CEO of Maersk Line and Partner A.P. Møller-Maersk; and Hiromasa Yonekura, Chairman of the Japanese Business Foundation.

Similar to the FDI working group, each of the other 11 group roundtables highlighted its members’ recommendations for action by government, business, international organisations and civil society groups, which were all presented to the Republic of Korea as chair of the G20 and Summit members.

Mr Brabeck-Letmathe and the other working group heads also took part in a press conference following the roundtable events.

The Group of Twenty (G20) – which consists of leading finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 countries – was established in 1999 to systemically bring together important industrialised and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy.

Its aim is to strengthen international financial architecture and provide opportunities for dialogue on national policies, international co-operation, and international financial institutions, while supporting growth and development across the globe.

Other working groups at the G20 Seoul Summit 2010 consisted of Revitalising World Trade; Funding and Nurturing the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Sector; and Supporting Economic Growth and the Implications for Financial Sector Policy and Regulatory Reforms.

In addition, the joint statement is backed by working groups in the categories of Reducing Monetary and Fiscal Stimulus; Closing the Gap in Infrastructure and Natural Resource Funding; Improving Energy Efficiency; and Encouraging Substantial Use of Renewable and Low-Carbon Energy.

Finally, the working groups of Creating Green Jobs; Unleashing Technology-Enabled Productivity Growth; Addressing the Impact of Youth Unemployment; and Increasing Access to Healthcare in Developing Economies, completed the joint statement pledge.