Business Leaders and the State of the Global Economy

It is no secret that the state of the global economy is far from being perfect. According to the top business leaders, the global economy is facing its worst crisis in a hundred years. It is worth mentioning that, without urgent reforms, it would more difficult to improve the situation.

Yousef Al-Benyan serves as a chairman of the Business Treaty (B20), a group made up of high-level CEOs from around the world. According to Yousef Al-Benyan, the state of the global economy is far from being ideal. As a reminder, B20 is an engagement group that seeks to represent the voice of the global business community across all member states as well as economic sectors in the Group of 20.

People should take into account that, B20 is urging G-20 leaders to undertake bold as well as broad-based policy to boost the economy. Based on the information, trade tensions, policy uncertainty, geopolitical strains represent the main risk factors to the outlook. Importantly, societies and economies are struggling to cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect the global economy. Moreover, it is hard to determine, how long it would take to get the global economy back on track.

Interestingly, Saudi Arabia will be the first country in the Middle East and North Africa region to host a G-20 summit. The leaders of the largest economies of the world will meet in November to address financial and socioeconomic issues.

The global economy and the G-20 summit

As stated above, a G-20 summit will take place in Saudi Arabia. On October 5, the B20 leadership made 22 recommendations for the G-20 group. Notably, each recommendation fell into three key areas. The first is to empower people. The second one is to safeguard the planet and the last one is to shape new frontiers.

Let’s have a look at the recommendations. Interestingly, when it comes to empowering people, the group made 10 recommendations aimed at accelerating efforts to empower women and youth. Moreover, the group recommended building workforces resilient to technological, health, and economic risks. Furthermore, B20 called for a scaling up of financing for sustainable development and economic diversification.

Also, the group urged substantial progress on trade cooperation. Importantly, the group called on the G-20 to strengthen the multilateral trade and investment system. Governments should support open markets and they have to enforce and enhance the rulebook to guarantee equal opportunities for everyone.

Let’s have a look at other recommendations. Notably, when it comes to safeguarding the planet, the B20 made three recommendations. The group recommended G-20 leaders commit to carbon neutrality in the second half of the century preferably by 2050.

Notably, under the area of shaping new frontiers, the group made another nine recommendations. The group underlined the importance of fintech and leveraging technologies to manage risks related to corruption and fraud. Importantly, it recommends investment in digital infrastructure like the next generation of wireless technology known as 5G.

Last but not least, the policy recommendations will be formally presented to the G-20. The B20 virtual summit will take on October 26-27.