International CEOs Urge Progress on Doha Negotiations at Washington Summit

September 21, 2005

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 (www.trade.businessroundtable.org).  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.

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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).