ICC secretary general John Denton
JOHANNESBURG - Organisers and delegates at the G20-linked business engagement, the B20, say that South Africa has put its best foot forward so far.
They say collaboration and trade ties are deepening, even if the United States is not at the main event.
eNCA's Francis Herd spoke with John Denton, secretary general of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on the final day of the B20, at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Denton was one of the founding members of the B20.
He said, "This is definitely one of the better B20s. I think the way which the team here has made this an incredibly inclusive process has been very enriching."
"The remarkable quality of it has been the co-operation of the business community."
"What we want is to actually leave legacies here for the people of Africa about the importance of business in creating jobs and opportunities."
Denton said the ICC would be launching an initiative after the South African B20 geared towards sharing skills and competencies that would empower South African Small, Medium, and Micro-Enterprises to trade with other countries.
"We're very excited, it's going to be called ICC Trade Routes and I'll look forward to very broad South African participation but it will be operating in Africa, out of SA."
He described how the B20 recommendations would be taken forward, saying, "the B20 can't enact a number of the recommendations, they're actually helping the government and political leaders focus on what really matters to business."
"One of the dangers in multilateral processes is they take on a life of their own."
"When you think about the G20, the whole purpose of the G20 is to enable economic growth and who are the best people to advise on what will be the drivers of economic growth?"
"It's actually the business community because ultimately we're paying for it," Denton said.
Denton also discussed the prospects for a successful G20.
South Africa is pushing for the G20 Summit to end with a formal declaration but a boycott by the United States, the next G20 hosts, has raised questions to whether consensus will be reached.
He said, "you've got to define what success looks like. From my perspective, the G20 process should actually and hopefully will continue."
"It's one of the most important innovations in what is called global economic architecture so it's been very useful."
"What we need to ensure that South Africa focuses on is what is a meaningful declaration or a meaningful statement which will engage in the kind of change needed to make certain that economic growth and activity continues. And I think they can do it," Denton said.