Policy Briefs

Reflections on the past seven B20 presidencies

In 2010, amidst the onslaught of the global financial crisis, the G20 was credited with taking swift action to reach a consensus on immediate policy response. The effectiveness and informal nature of the forum distinguished it from other multilateral organizations and has allowed it to achieve timely decisions. The G20 also represents diverse interests through frank and forward-looking discussions on recommendations from a diverse group of countries and stakeholders.

Formed to facilitate dialogue between the business communities across G20 member states, Business 20 (B20) brings the global private sector’s perspective to multilateral policymaking. B20 is amongst the most prominent G20 engagement groups that primarily focuses on economic growth, development, and trade governance. The core responsibility of the B20 is to formulate policy recommendations representing business interests aimed at overcoming hurdles in the business process and making the global environment more conducive to good business practices, all while achieving consensus amongst the members.

Each B20 cycle has a motto/theme, which guides the development of all policy recommendations and embraces their outcomes. It helps to shape the policy papers along specific calls-to-action. The B20 theme is generally aligned with the guiding theme of the G20 and the current G20 Presidency.

Over the years, each B20 Presidency has chosen a key theme for itself, which acts as a defining thread for all its activities and policy suggestions to the G20.

Over the years, B20 has called on the G20 governments to assist the private sector’s efforts, not only through budgetary discipline and redirection of spending towards investment, but also by removing barriers to business activity and improving coordination in key areas such as digital security and tax policy.

In recent times, B20 has made recommendations to the G20 in the areas of employment, human capital, inclusive growth, trade, financial regulation, corruption, sustainable growth, and innovation.

B20 has also been responsible for seeding several innovative and timely ideas to the G20. B20’s call to leaders for focusing on digital trade, developing guidelines for green finance, mainstreaming SMEs into the global economic rule making and integrity & compliance are a few examples.

The past few years have seen a diverse set of issues being discussed on the B20 platform, reflecting the future of international economic relations and globalisation. Key outcomes have been ideated under the process with impactful initiatives being instituted by the countries holding the presidency. A few key initiatives are mentioned below:

1. I. B20 Germany (2017): Germany during its presidency introduced the G20 Compact with Africa (CwA) to promote private investment in Africa, including in infrastructure through substantial improvements of the macro, business, and financing frameworks. It brought together reform-minded African organizations and bilateral partners from G20 and beyond to coordinate country specific reform agendas and attract investments. The Compact with Africa task force’s recommendations were reflected in G20 decisions in investment, energy and other areas.
2. II. B20 Argentina (2018): B20 Argentina structured its recommendations based on the G20’s three priority areas: employment in the new digital era, financial support for infrastructure development, and sustainable food systems. A high number of recommendations on sustainable food systems were implemented as G20 decisions in the G20 Health and Agriculture Ministers Meetings. Another priority area, future of work in the digital era, saw many actionable decisions (The G20 and the OECD’s "G20 Digital Government Principles", G20 Financial Inclusion Policy Guide on Digitisation and Informality, G20 Guidelines on Skills for an Inclusive Future of Work, and Policy Recommendations for Education and Skills), which outlined important measures in education, employment, and digital inclusion.
3. III. B20 Japan (2019): The vision of Japan’s Presidency work was focused on the overarching theme for B20 as “Society 5.0 for SDGs.” Society 5.0 represents the 5^th form of society in our human history, chronologically following hunting, farming, industry, and information. Society 5.0 was described by the Japanese government as the "Super Smart Society" which aims at creating a society where people can resolve various social challenges by incorporating innovation's such as AI, robots and big data into society. This would require the amalgamation of innovative technology and creativity to tackle key issues, while taking a human-centred approach.
4. IV. B20 Saudi Arabia (2020): ’Women in Business' was the central theme of B20 Saudi Arabia. It was advocated through a dedicated Action Council for Women in Business – a first of its kind initiative committed to gender equality and increasing women's participation in business, especially at leadership positions, globally. In March 2020, B20 Saudi Arabia established the COVID-19 initiative to address the catastrophic impact of the pandemic on the business world. B20 Saudi Arabia submitted a six-point plan to the G20 as part of this initiative to combat the pandemic and prepare for future waves of the virus.
5. V. B20 Italy (2021): B20 Italy summarised the work during its Presidency by submitting 32 policy recommendations, with 93 calls to action to the G20. B20 Italy, for the first time, introduced indicators in the form of KPIs for analysing the implementation of the policy recommendations by the B20 in the coming years. Cumulatively, 37 ‘Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)’ were introduced as a pragmatic way to reinforce the role of B20 and for coordinating efforts at a national level between private and public sector. The aggregated coverage of recommendations by B20 incorporated in the G20 declaration demonstrated a high level of responsiveness on B20 Italy Policy Actions.
6. VI. B20 Indonesia (2022): B20 Indonesia prioritized the three key areas of accelerating the green transition, promoting inclusive growth, and creating equitable access to healthcare as the focus of deliberations during Indonesian Presidency. The three key breakthroughs made in the policy recommendations included prioritizing innovation for unlocking post-crisis growth; empowering vulnerable groups and a focus on MSMEs; and supporting increased collaboration between the developing and the developed world. Beyond these, B20 Indonesia introduced four B20 Legacy Programs - Carbon Centre of Excellence; B20 Wiki; One Global Women Empowerment; and the Global One-Shot Campaign to ensure lasting impact beyond B20 Indonesia’s presidency.
7. VII. B20 India (2023): B20 India introduced initiatives aligning with its R.A.I.S.E. (Responsible, Accelerated, Innovative, Sustainable, Equitable) vision. A major highlight was the establishment of the B20 Global Institute, designed to ensure continuity of B20 recommendations across presidencies. India also proposed the Global SDG Acceleration Fund, focusing on mobilizing finance for sustainable development and climate resilience in the Global South. On decarbonization, India emphasized accelerating financial support for net-zero transitions especially in Global South, with mechanisms tailored for vulnerable economies. The Universal Labour Information Management System (ULIMS) aimed to harmonize workforce mobility and skilling globally. Also, for the first time, B20 India introduced a dedicated Action Council on African Economic Integration: An Agenda for Global Business which was validated by the G20 with the inclusion of African Union in the G20 process, marking a historic achievement.
8. VIII. B20 Brazil (2024): B20 Brazil, under the theme "Inclusive Growth for a Sustainable Future", introduced dedicated focus on addressing global hunger and poverty. G20 launched Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty aimed to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty by 2030. The Sustainable Food Systems Task Force focused on transforming food systems through trade, technology, and financial innovation. B20 Brazil introduced climate action legacies including the B20 Climate Hub, offering climate policy solutions, and the Carbon Center of Excellence, which supports scaling global carbon markets for emissions reduction. Promoting gender equity, the B20 Brazil initiative of She Leads B20 aims at increasing women's representation in leadership, complemented by the Women in Trade Initiative to address trade barriers for women-led enterprises. The B20 Collective Action Hub was also launched to combat corruption and promote ethical business practices globally.

Recommendations made by B20 to the G20 dialogue are increasing in number and relevance every year. B20 has truly emerged as a key partner to G20 in driving economic cooperation and finding solutions to global economic issues.