Mr. Hisarcıklıoğlu, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges
Members of the B20 Turkey Executive Committee,
Distinguished representatives of the business community,
Dear colleagues,
First of all, on behalf of the Sherpa group I would like to express our appreciation for the B20 taking the initiative to organize this event.
As you all know, Turkey has the honor of assuming the important responsibility to steer the work of the G20 for one year. Reflecting its informal nature, the G20 does not have a permanent secretariat. Instead, the G20 Presidency is responsible for bringing together the G20 agenda in consultation with other members and in response to developments in the global economy.
Since the Toronto Summit in 2010, the B20 has played an important role in the G20 process. The B20 offers a real economy perspective to G20 deliberations and provides practical recommendations to support the G20 agenda from year to year.
We all know that it is the world´s businesses, both large and small, that will create and sustain the jobs and investment that we need for robust and sustainable growth. This is why we think that it is essential to involve the B20 with the G20 process right from the selection of priorities to the implementation of our Leaders’ decisions.
Over the next twelve months we will need your ideas and input, and ultimately, your support to our agenda. We want to know what will make the most difference to your business prospects, inside and outside of the G20.
This dinner gives us the opportunity to establish the first interaction between B20 and G20 during the Turkish Presidency. We will try to find other opportunities during the course of the year. We will also ensure that findings and recommendations prepared by the B20 will be considered and discussed by Sherpas.
Although much has been achieved since the global financial crisis, there is still more work to be done. Financial markets are now stable, but the economic recovery has been slow, weak and uneven. Some recent forecasts are weaker than ones made only a few weeks ago. Evaluations by the IMF, OECD and the World Bank emphasize the negative impact of lower than expected growth on job creation and unemployment.
Enabling the global economy to have a strong and sustainable path requires further coordination by advanced and emerging countries. The G20 is critical to achieving the necessary level of coordination. It is both representative enough to make decisions to change the direction of the global economy and small enough to make those decisions quickly and effectively.
Our Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Babacan shared our priorities with you in detail in the morning. I don’t want to take too much of your time. I will give you a brief account of the main areas of the Turkish Presidency.
We can define 2015 as the year of inclusive and robust growth and prosperity through collective action.
We have formulated this as the three I’s of the Turkish Presidency; Inclusiveness, Implementation and Investment for Growth. We will try to structure this year’s G20 agenda along these three main pillars.
Growth will continue to be a pressing issue for the global agenda. G20 countries have committed to policy measures at the Brisbane Summit that will lift global G20 growth by an additional 2,1 percent over five years. This is not only a timely but also a necessary target.
We will focus our attention on the effective and robust implementation of our national growth strategies to reach this collective goal. To boost the fragile global recovery, we need to work together to nurture growth and job creation.
In fact, the credibility of the Brisbane summit outcomes depends on the robust implementation and monitoring of these policy measures. That is why implementation will be one of the priority issues for the Turkish Presidency. It is now time to change our words for actions.
Persistent slow growth will continue to dampen employment prospects. Despite some minor small improvements recently, the unemployment is projected to remain high in several G20 economies.
We will place particular emphasis on measures to boost labor demand, including through reducing youth unemployment and increasing opportunities for women, and improving credit flows to the real economy, particularly by providing better access to financing for SMEs.
SMEs constitute the main engine of new employment generation. They represent almost 90 percent of businesses in G20 countries. They have created 85 percent of the new jobs in some G20 countries over the last decade. That’s why we will present a specific SME dimension to all the work strands of the G20 will have.
It goes without saying that B20 has an important role to play in representing both SMEs and big business. In this regard, we welcome the B20´s decision to establish a new Task Force on SMEs in 2015.
Infrastructure investment is going to be high on our agenda because it is important for supporting the recovery, lifting growth and creating new employment. While there is an abundance of capital in the global economy, there is a major financing gap for infrastructure investment.
Strengthening the role of the private sector is therefore critical to allocating necessary funding for some of the 70 trillion dollar infrastructure gap by 2030.
Trade will continue to be an important agenda item during our presidency because we all know that it is an important tool for growth and employment. Increased global trade is required for the G20 to achieve its growth target. In order to reach that goal we need to restore confidence in the multilateral trading system and the World Trade Organization.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Turkish Presidency comes at a particularly important year for development and climate change. 2015 will be a year when the UN will host two important international conferences on these issues.
As G20 member countries we are not only concerned with our own economic prospects, but also with the implications of our policies on non-member countries, especially the low income and developing countries. With this understanding, development has always been a core agenda item since the inception of the G20. During our presidency we will try to build better bridges with the low income and developing countries.
Climate change is one of the most important global challenges of our time which needs global action. In our Presidency we will try to incentive the greater involvement of the private sector in the financing of climate change.
This is a comprehensive and challenging agenda. We count on your support in implementing it.
In fact, all G20 engagement groups have an important role in conveying to us the views of various stakeholders and hence enriching and deepening our discussions. Therefore, we will ensure that an effective dialogue with all these groups takes place throughout our Presidency.
I look forward to working closely with the B20 throughout the year and to delivering practical outcomes for our Leaders’ Summit in Antalya.
Thank you.
