G20 stresses greater role of corporate sector
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The Seoul G20 Business Summit on Thursday launched its official roundtable sessions with an opening plenary, during which South Korean President Lee Myung-bak gave a speech on a greater role of corporate sector in economic growth.
Bringing together some 120 business leaders from both G20 and non-G20 countries, the Business Summit will deal with business- relevant global issues, such as trade and investment, finance, green growth, and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Opening the event, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak highlighted the role of private sector in economic recovery, saying it is essential to let the business community lead economic growth down the road.
"To revitalize the economy, corporate sector should be regarded the most important player," Lee told the participant business leaders.
"Although it has been the government to play a leading role in economic recovery, via fiscal spending, the public sector is now facing greater possibilities of inflation and fiscal deterioration, " Lee added, urging business leaders to take part in creating growth engines.
Sohn Byung-shik, co-chair of the Business Summit, sympathized with the president's view, urging the private sector to participate in promoting "shared growth beyond crisis," which is the theme of the G20 Seoul Summit, slated to kick off later in the day.
For the plenary session, Klaus Schwab, chairman of the World Economic Forum, served as moderator, who highlighted the launch of the Business Summit as a new framework for strong stakeholder integration.
Victor Fung, Honorary Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), also echoed the message of the president at the plenary, putting stress on the role of private sector, and identifying trade and investment central to economic recovery.
He also claimed a multilateral system is in need, for which political will matters more heavily, hinting at a stronger tie between political and business circles.
Following the plenary session, the participant business leaders were divided into four roundtable sessions, and further into 12 subgroups, to hold in-depth discussions on a range of issues.
As a result of the roundtable sessions, the leaders are expected to come up with a final draft of policy recommendation report, for which the Summit organizing committee has been running up since July.
Closing the two-day event, British Prime Minister David Cameron will give a special speech at the closing plenary, followed by a press conference where a joint statement will be announced.
The joint statement will likely be an outline of the working group report, which will directly be submitted to the G20 Summit, waiting to be implemented.
With respect to the report, of which a preliminary draft was presented to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors at the October ministerial meeting in Gyeongju, South Korean President said he is heeding keen attention to the results.
More specifically, the President said he will directly report to G20 leaders the results from the Business Summit, hoping for stronger partnership with the private sector through the gathering of business leaders.
Lee also said he anticipated the Business Summit to remain as key activity of the G20 Summit.
The G20 Business Summit, first devised and proposed by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, is being held for the first time on the sidelines of the G20 Seoul Summit.
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