Businesses can play a transformative role, “as the world is navigating through three important transitions: Digital and Artificial Intelligence transition, Energy transition, and Global Value & Supply Chain transition. India is well-positioned to lead in all three”, said Mr N. Chandrasekaran, Chair, B20 India in his opening remarks at the plenary session on B20 India priorities and recommendations: From India for the World, organised under the auspices of the B-20 Summit India 2023 at New Delhi today. Guided by the principle of R.A.I.S.E. - Responsible, Accelerated, Innovative, Sustainable, and Equitable Businesses, the 7 Task Forces and 2 Action Councils formed under the aegis of B20, formulated 54 recommendations and 172 policy enablers, intended for consideration by the G20 Governments, he highlighted.

In order to ensure that the recommendations of these Task Forces and Action Councils are implemented, he announced 4 important mechanisms, including the institutionalization of a ‘Global B20 Institute’, with the objective of being an evangelist, a change agent, the knowledge base, thought leader and a think tank with highly experienced people who will work with the G20 nations.

With the world economy experiencing unpredictable events over the last five years, the importance of building resilient, sustainable, transparent, and inclusive supply chains to reduce the nation’s vulnerability to shocks assumes special significance. This was stated by Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, Chair, B20 India Task Force on Inclusive GVCs for Resilient Global Trade and Investment. This finds a reflection in the recommendations of the task force, based on four priority themes, namely building resilient and sustainable global value chains;
technology and trade 4.0; diversifying and advancing services trade and fostering inclusive trade for LDCs, MSMEs, women and youth.

The session also had the benefit of the views of Ms Shobana Kamineni, Chair, B20 India Task Force on Future of Work, Skilling and Mobility, India who shared that the task force has developed its priorities around three pillars namely future of work which entailed fostering inclusive and sustainable growth in the transforming world of work; imperative of skilling involving reskilling and upskilling; and enhancing workforce mobility. The focus should be on addressing the technology skill gaps through reskilling and skill upgradation, she stressed.

Mr Sajjan Jindal, Chair, B20 India Task Force on Energy, Climate Change and Resource Efficiency, India, while addressing the session shared valuable insights on climate change and the associated concerns, which he considered had emerged as a defining issue requiring immediate and radical action. He said that the task force addressed four focus areas which include global transition to net zero to make clean energy a reality; ramping up climate finance to enhance affordability and accessibility; a just and equitable transition to promote inclusion and promoting a circular economy. A collaborative approach is a cornerstone of our vision, he stated.

The discussions of the task force on digital transformation have set the pace for global collaboration with recommendations being prepared on critical aspects related to digitization and drawing best practices from the success stories of many G20 economies, underlined Mr Rajesh Gopinathan, Co-Chair, B20 India Task Force on Digital Transformation. He further stated that the key recommendation of the taskforce included developing harmonized cybersecurity standards & frameworks for promoting digital trust along with promoting enterprise transformation for MSMEs through access to sustainable finance.

At the same session, Mr Uday Kotak, Chair, B20 India Task Force on Financing for Global Economic Recovery, India said that The Task Force has deliberated extensively on galvanizing private sector funding for the attainment of SDGs and Global Public Goods. He segregated the issue into three broad areas namely how much money do we need; where does the money come from and narrowing the priorities. The task force has proposed setting up a Global SDG Acceleration Fund to help bridge the SDG financing gap wherein he urged the world business community to contribute 0.2 per cent of its profits towards identified social goals. He narrowed the resource flow to four areas namely climate change, energy transition, biodiversity, and ocean pollution.

Mr. Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chair, B20 India Task Force on Financial Inclusion for Economic Empowerment, India, underlined that the development of a framework for financial inclusion and economic empowerment encompasses 11 key priority themes including greater private sector involvement, fast-tracking digital public infrastructure roll out, incentivizing cross-border payments among others. The taskforce also suggested a few advocacy outcomes such as creation of a framework to evaluate the performance of countries on Financial Inclusion, setting up of a B20 ‘Secretariat on Financial Inclusion’ to provide continuous consultancy and guidance to B20 countries.

Mr Sunil Bharati Mittal, Chair, B20 India Action Council on African Economic Integration: An Agenda for Global Business, India, while speaking at the session, strongly supported the coming together of B-20 leaders to avidly support the inclusion of African Economic Union as a permanent G-20 member as envisioned by our Prime Minister. Mr Mittal further stated that the Council had identified 5 priority areas or pillars on which actionable recommendations have been firmed up.

Mr R Dinesh, President Confederation of Indian Industry and B20 India Action Council on ESG in Business, stressed that the Action Council’s recommendations have been carefully crafted to stimulate swift and widespread adoption of ESG practices within companies spanning various sizes and economic landscapes across the globe. The key recommendations of the Action Council entailed establishing universally adaptable ESG standards and disclosures which are comprehensive, transparent, inclusive and equitable, across all geographies, he added.

Speaking at the interaction, Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said “the B20 summit is the culmination of rigorous activities that have transpired over the last ten months, laying the groundwork for impactful discussions and policy recommendations”. The summit will see deliberations from 70+ speakers spread over 25+ sessions in the three days. In addition, the participation of over 1700 delegates including 800 overseas delegates from 59 countries is also expected, he emphasised.