| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: Eric Thomas, The Fratelli Group |
| September 21, 2005 |
(202) 822-9491 |
WASHINGTON, DC - World Business Leaders for Growth,
an organization established by six of the world's leading
business advocacy organizations, detailed plans today for
a coordinated effort to advance the Doha Development Agenda
(DDA).
The first-ever Business Roundtable International CEO Economic
Summit featured a videoconference with new WTO Director General
Pascal Lamy, during which the business leaders stressed the
vital importance of global economic development and urged
global negotiators to raise, not lower, expectations in the
Doha Round.
"To enhance economic growth worldwide and successfully advance
the Doha Development Agenda, WTO Member Governments must make
the political commitment necessary to secure a balanced and
ambitious agreement that serves the interests of developed
and developing countries," said Harold McGraw III, Chairman,
President and CEO, The McGraw-Hill Companies, and Chairman
of Business Roundtable's International Trade & Investment
Task Force. "Director General Lamy understands the critical
stage of the ongoing negotiations and welcomes the constructive
participation of the international business community."
World Business Leaders for Growth was founded by
the following CEO-level organizations:
- Business Council of Australia (Australia)
- Business Roundtable (United States)
- Canadian Council of Chief Executives (Canada)
- Consejo Mexicano de Hombres de Negocios (Mexico)
- The European Round Table of Industrialists (Europe)
- Nippon Keidanren (Japan)
Earlier this month, World Business Leaders for Growth
released a call to action in the form of its policy paper:
Advancing the Promise
of Doha. The paper outlined recommendations for progress
in negotiations on agriculture, industrial goods, services
and trade facilitation.
"A successful conclusion to the Doha Round would spur growth
and increase confidence in a still-fragile global economy,"
said Thomas d'Aquino, Chief Executive and President of the
Canadian Council of Chief Executives. "The potential benefits
are enormous for developed and developing countries alike."
He added that the six organizations behind World Business
Leaders for Growth represent countries that collectively
account for more than half of the world's total output, close
to two-thirds of global trade and more than 80 percent of
foreign direct investment.
"Because of the extreme importance of the Doha Round to
future worldwide economic growth, we join with our international
business colleagues in the call for WTO Members to intensify
their efforts and show real progress in Hong Kong - without
lowering expectations," stated Gastón Azcárraga, Chairman
of Consejo Mexicano de Hombres de Negocios.
The business leaders announced that World Business Leaders
for Growth will be sending a CEO delegation to Geneva
later this fall for a series of high level meetings with the
Chairs of the key WTO negotiating groups and many key ambassadors.
The group also plans to have a strong international CEO presence
at the Hong Kong Ministerial in December. Each of the six
international organizations will be working directly with
their own national governments to encourage progress in the
negotiations.
"Now is the time when business sectors throughout the world
should be united and extend a strong and clear message to
all WTO Members calling for substantial progress in the Doha
Development Agenda," concluded Yoshiro Kuwata, Chairman, Hitachi
High-Technologies, Corporation, and Chairman of the Policy
Subcommittee of Nippon Keidanren's Committee on Trade & Investment.
# # #
World Business Leaders for Growth is an international
CEO-level organization formed to advocate for policies that
promote sustained economic growth. The group was founded in
September 2005 by the following organizations: Business Council
of Australia, Business Roundtable (United States), Canadian
Council of Chief Executives, Consejo Mexicano de Hombres de
Negocios (Mexico), The European Round Table of Industrialists,
and Nippon Keidanren (Japan).
|
