On October 5th, the B20 released their final recommendations to the G20 as prepared by the B20’s six taskforces and the Women in Business Action Council. The U.S.-Saudi Business Council (USSBC), a member of the B20 Trade & Investment Taskforce, is pleased to provide you with a summary of the 25 policy recommendations that will be formally presented to the G20 during the B20 Virtual Summit on October 26-27th. The policy recommendations were divided into three themes: Empowering People, Safeguarding the Planet, and Shaping New Frontiers.
The first theme, “Empowering People,” encompasses ten recommendations focused on the impact on individuals of 2020’s many disruptions and the actions needed to provide relief on a personal level. In general, this theme’s recommendations seek to “drive sustainable and equitable growth.” To summarize, the recommendations seek to unlock access to opportunities for women and youth; establish a Women’s Empowerment working group with the World Bank and United Nations (UN); support employment transition through training and education initiatives to match employability with the 21st century job market; support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs; scale up sustainable development efforts; and strengthen the multilateral trade system to even the playing field for emerging economies.
At its heart, the “Empowering People” recommendations were crafted to meet the needs of the people and empower individuals by “unleashing opportunities for all.” The events of 2020 highlighted the need to ensure an inclusive economic recovery for all, particularly women, youth, and SMEs, as well as the need for improving the resiliency of the workforce to technological, economic, and health risks. Due to the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on SMEs and entrepreneurs, along with the importance of SMEs to job creation and innovation, it is even more vital to support SMEs by simplifying the regulatory environment, enhancing connectivity to digital infrastructure, supporting digital skills training and access to digital tools, facilitating access to international markets, and easing access to finance. Similarly, “transformed education and lifelong learning” initiatives to align the skills of the workforce with the needs of the 21st century job market will support these economically vulnerable groups.
The “Empowering People” theme was combined from various recommendations put forth by the B20 taskforces, including Digitalization (chaired by USSBC member Saudi Telecom Company), Future of Work & Education, Trade & Investment (chaired by USSBC member Olayan Group), and Finance & Infrastructure. Other USSBC members played an active role in each taskforce and were instrumental in the B20’s adoption of these recommendations, including Abdel Hadi Abdullah Al-Qahtani & Sons Group of Companies, Al Abdulkarim Holding Co, Alfanar Construction, Citigroup, Dow Chemical Company, Facebook, Jacobs, Jarir Investment, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., NEOM, Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden), Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco), Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), Saudi British Bank, and Seder Group. The B20, consisting of six taskforces and one action council, represents the international business community in its dialogue with the G20 and serves as the voice of the private sector across all economic sectors of the G20 members. We at the USSBC further invite you to review the full set of policy recommendations from the included link and to follow us on Twitter for more updates on the G20 and B20.
