Canadian Council of Chief Executives and Five International Business Organizations Urge G-8 Leaders to Bolster WTO Negotiations

May 21, 2003

In an unprecedented joint letter, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, along with five other leading international business groups, call on Prime Minister Jean ChrǸtien and the other Group of Eight (G-8) leaders for a strong commitment to the success of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round negotiations. With the global economy at a critical crossroads, G-8 leaders will meet in Evian, France on June 1st.

“The G-8 leaders have an important opportunity to bolster WTO negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda. The Council and the five international business groups have issued this letter to reassert their strong support for the WTO and to push for an ambitious result this September in Cancǧn, Mexico,” said Thomas d’Aquino, President and Chief Executive of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. “A positive result will have a far-reaching impact not just on the global economy, but on social progress, global security and the human condition.”

The joint letter signed by Council Chairman, Richard L. George, the chief executive of Suncor Energy Inc., marks the start of an international communications campaign by leading international business groups to ensure the Doha Round negotiations remain on track. The other groups joining with the Canadian Council of Chief Executives in signing the letter include: The Business Roundtable; The European Round Table of Industrialists; International Chamber of Commerce; Nippon Keidanren; and The Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe.

The initiative follows the release of a major Council statement on May 5 in Ottawa outlining the recommendations of its member chief executives on the importance of advancing an ambitious agenda in the current WTO talks.

The Canadian Council of Chief Executives, composed of the chief executive officers of 150 leading Canadian corporations, is Canada’s senior business organization. Its members head companies that administer in excess of $2.1 trillion in assets, have annual revenues of more than $500 billion and account for a significant majority of Canada’s private sector investment, exports, training and research and development.

The Council’s chief executives are actively engaged in work involving a triple mandate: the shaping of sound business and public policy solutions in Canada, North America and the world. The Council, Canada’s private sector leader in the development of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the WTO agenda, continues to be actively engaged in international trade and investment issues.

—-

May 21, 2003

To the Leaders of the G8:

The global economy is at a critical juncture. The G8 Summit is an opportune time for global leaders to make a strong commitment to the success of the multilateral negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO), which can play a vital role in boosting worldwide economic growth and the welfare of workers and consumers.

A recent study by the World Bank predicts that a path of dynamic trade liberalization would raise world income in 2015 to a level over $800 billion more annually than would occur in the absence of liberalization. Significantly, over half of that gain would accrue to the countries that need it the most, the low- and middle-income countries.

Given the important economic stakes for everyone, the 146 WTO member governments need to keep the negotiations on track. As international business leaders, we take this opportunity to restate our continuing strong support for the WTO and for keeping the trade negotiations to the schedule approved at the Doha Ministerial in November 2001.

We reject the pessimism and skepticism expressed in recent months about the prospects for the key mid-term meeting in Cancun, and for concluding a successful negotiation by the 2005 target date. None of the various issues on the WTO agenda presents an insuperable conceptual challenge. The promise of the WTO Doha Development Agenda can still be achieved.

We are counting on your leadership to make sure that the WTO negotiations advance on schedule, and you can count on our support to help achieve that goal.

Yours sincerely,

Gerhard Cromme
Chairman
The European Round Table of Industrialists
Chairman
ThyssenKrupp

John T. Dillon
Chairman
The Business Roundtable
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
International Paper Company

Jean-RenǸ Fourtou
Chairman
International Chamber of Commerce
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Vivendi Universal

Richard L. George
Chairman
Canadian Council of Chief Executives
President & Chief Executive Officer
Suncor Energy Inc.

OKUDA Hiroshi
Chairman
Nippon Keidanren
Chairman of the Board
Toyota Motor Corporation

Georges Jacobs
President
UNICE
President of the Executive Committee
UCB S.A.