Urgent need to drive inclusive growth via trade, says ICC vice chair

WASHINGTON - At the inflection point for the global economy, Group of 20 members need to act to revive trade and investment, said John Denton, first vice-chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

"This (G20) summit in Hangzhou is taking place at a point which appears that the whole concept of globalization is now under threat," Denton told Xinhua in a recent interview.

According to Denton, the global economy is at a difficult inflation point where globalization is arguably driving the world apart and is causing real fractions in a number of economies.

"What's happening now is that a number of citizens around the world do not see the benefits of globalization..., they tend to blame globalization and trade for all the job losses and for all the inequality they have seen," said Denton.

He added that their concerns have a lot to do with technology development and changing patterns of economic growth as well.

"It's interesting that this G20 Summit is taking place in China in this particular point," said Denton.

China has been the major beneficiary of the globalization, and Hangzhou is where new digital companies, such as Alibaba, were born. "There are a lot of opportunities emerged for the global world, particularly for China and a lot of Chinese companies, through globalization," said Denton.

It's important for the G20 leaders to give a clear message and signal that they support global economy and the process of globalization, said Denton.

After concluding the G20 Summit, the G20 agreed in their communique that they would take measures to ensure the benefits from economic growth, globalization and technological innovation are widely shared, and emphasized that the benefits of trade and open markets must be communicated to the wider public more effectively.

The ICC said in a statement that it's vital that business and governments work together to explain how and why trade matters for all.

Along with the rising doubts about globalization, international trade growth has dropped below 3 percent for a number of years. Countries need to get the trade growth up in order to help global economy to grow, said Denton.

According to Denton, the slow trade growth represented the downturn in global growth, as well as the structural shifts of world economy, such as the emergence of digital platform and the creation of technologies, such as 3D printing.

Denton said that it's important for G20 to recognize the slow trade growth as a serious issue. China has done so for the first time that trade is formally part of the G20 agenda, and G20 trade ministers have actually made some important declaration in this regard. "That's a big shift, and China should be praised for doing that," said Denton.

The rise of the protectionism and the declining of global trade should be stopped, said Denton. He also called on G20 members to ratify Trade Facilitation Agreement which will unveil multi-billions of dollars of opportunities for the world economy.

ICC commended G20's efforts to tackle the slow trade growth, saying that "the Hangzhou Summit represents a major step forward in establishing a credible, action-oriented agenda to drive inclusive growth through trade."

It also called on G20 leaders to "put words into action." "With protectionism rising at an unprecedented rate, there is no room for the G20 to fall short of its latest commitments to keep markets open," it warned.