The B20 Summit 2011 will take place today and tomorrow in Cannes, with one day concomitantly with the G20 Heads of State and Government’s Summit 2011. Let´s have a look what this Summit is about…
The G20 Summit…
This week, there is a major event in the French Riviera, in Cannes, as France is holding this year the Presidency of the G20. It will be the sixth meeting of the G20 Summit, gathering the Heads of Governments of the major economies, from developed and developing countries and main international economic and financial institutions. You can find the G20 members list here. Its main objective: to ensure financial stability worldwide, a big challenge nowadays.
This forum was established in 1999 after the financial crisis in Asia in 1997. It is more a forum of exchange and cooperation amongst economies to promote financial welfare and economic development worldwide, adopting concerted decisions and actions, with no permanent staff. The G20 Summits meet once a year, under a yearly rotation Presidency that defines the main priorities for the year. Korea held the G20 Presidency last year in 2010, France is currently holding the Presidency for 2011 and Mexico will be the next one for 2012.
The B20…
Under the Presidency of Korea in 2010, the first G20 Business Summit was organised, gathering during two days and before the G20 Seoul Summit, more than 100 CEOs from top international companies, to discuss on several issues as a business contribution to the G20 outcomes. Telefónica was one of the companies invited to contribute to this forum.
This year, the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy has asked the French business confederation, MEDEF, to organise the B20 Summit for 2011. It also gathers more than 120 CEOs from top global companies but as well the business confederations of the G20 countries. Telefónica is part of the companies invited to the B20 work. The B20 Summit 2011 will take place today and also tomorrow in Cannes, with one day concomitantly with the G20 Heads of State and Government’s Summit 2011.
The B20 is debating on 12 relevant issues, so-called the B20 priorities for the business community. The invited to the B20 Summit have been working together for several months on these priorities in different working groups, which are co-chaired by a company CEO and a President of business organization to elaborate concrete proposals. The main outcomes will be presented to the G20 Summit tomorrow.
As part of these debates, Internet and Innovation is a key issue in this G20 and the French G8/20 Presidency has organised specific debates on this issue during this year, as mentioned in this Blog some months ago. Therefore, Internet has its place in this B20 Summit too. But there are also other relevant topics under debate, such as Global Governance, Green Growth or Financial regulation, amongst others.
Have a look at the agenda of the B20 event and you can also follow the main outcomes through the B20 hashtag: #B20fr.
