PRESS CONFERENCE BY INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The United Nations should lend its authority to supporting a rules-based open system of international trade and investment, while opposing all forms of protectionism, Adnan Kassar, President of the International Chamber of Commerce, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference today.

That was the salient point of the message he had just communicated to the Secretary-General on behalf of the 7000 business associations and companies he represented, Mr. Kassar explained. However, the United Nations and its agencies should be the global institutions recognized for raising environmental and labour standards and for dealing with human rights issues, rather than the multilateral trading system. The Chamber welcomed the Secretary-General's Global Compact for cooperation between business and the United Nations for raising environmental and labour standards and raising human rights. That cooperation was, one year on from the proposal, already happening.

The two representatives of the International Chamber of Commerce – Mr. Kassar, and its Secretary-General, Maria Cattaui -- were introduced by the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General, Assistant Secretary-General John Ruggie. Mr. Ruggie also welcomed the Chamber's input into the Millennium Assembly. He explained that the Chamber had been a close partner in establishing a new and productive working relationship between the United Nations and the global business community. It was the first international business association to endorse the Secretary-General's initiative to incorporate social responsibility into globalization -- the Global Compact. One week ago the International Federation of Free Trade Unions had also endorsed the Compact, and the Secretary-General was very pleased to have both labour and business solidly behind the effort.

Mr. Kassar said that the document he had just handed to the Secretary-General contained recommendations from world business for the United Nations Millennium Assembly. It listed priority areas where business would like to see the United Nations take the lead -- policies the business community wished to commend to the Assembly through the Secretary-General. That the voice of business was making itself heard in this way was highly significant, he said. The International Chamber of Commerce had developed a trusting, working relationship with the United Nations system under the leadership of Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Mr. Kassar thanked Secretary-General Annan for opening the United Nations to the business community. He said he was confident the partnership between business and the United Nations -- pursuing mutually supportive goals -- would produce effective, positive results in areas of common interest. The situation today was a far cry from the days when the relationship between business and the United Nations was constrained by cold war ideological divisions and when there was widespread suspicion of, and even hostility to, private enterprise among United Nations Member States.

The Chamber of Commerce wanted to see the effectiveness and the authority of the United Nations strengthened, he said, and believed its resource base should be enlarged to allow that to happen. It also believed that further streamlining of

Commerce Press Conference - 2 - 26 January 2000

the Organization was essential. The United Nations should assume responsibility for coordinating more efficient international decision-making.

Asked about the Secretary-General's reaction to the message from the International Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Kassar said he agreed that, since Mr. Annan had become Secretary-General, a new dialogue had opened between business and the United Nations. Business had discovered that one of the most important organizations in the world was ready to cooperate with it to improve economic circumstances and the business environment, particularly in developing countries. That had motivated businesses to do more. The relationship between the United Nations and the Chamber had existed for more than 50 years, he said, but the last two years had been the most productive.

Asked if he believed the attitude of developing countries to business had changed, Mr. Kassar explained that cold war ideological divisions had once coincided with different attitudes about free trade and free enterprise. There was still some suspicion among developing countries, and much effort had to be put into helping the developing world improve its standards of living. The International Chamber of Commerce represented multinational corporations, but also thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses. He himself came from the developing world, and he had paid great attention to developing countries during his term as President of the Chamber. There was a new feeling today among businesses. Business now believed it had to assist, not just profit.

The Chamber of Commerce was working with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to develop specific projects to assist in making least developed countries more attractive for foreign investment, Ms. Cattaui said. Projects had commenced in Ethiopia, Mali and Bangladesh. Investment guides had been produced for Ethiopia and Mali. The projects involved setting benchmarks for where those countries would like to be, and establishing the micro-economic means to get there. Similar projects were now under way in Uganda, Mozambique and Madagascar. Plans were in place to extend the concept to all least developed countries, as part of a continuing process to stimulate investment.

Ms. Cattaui explained that she would attend the Tenth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, to be held in Bangkok in February, and would chair a governmental and non-governmental forum examining the ways small and medium enterprises in least developed countries interacted with the large investors.

Asked to explain how the compact between business and the United Nations would further the United Nations main goal of maintaining international peace and security, Mr. Kassar said that globalization, applied properly, brought benefits. However, open markets must go hand in hand with a rules-based system. There were, of course, also some negative aspects to globalization, he added. The Chamber was encouraging its members to address those negatives to the extent possible.

Neither democracy, nor an open world economy could operate without rules, Ms. Cattaui added. Good business governance, good corporate governance and excellent government were required. The Chamber believed that good government and effective bureaucracy were among the most important competitive advantages that a country could offer business.

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