Turkish G20 proposes initiative on trust for business

By Andrew Jay Rosenbaum

ANKARA

Under Turkey's presidency of the G20, the Trust for Business initiative is being put forward – a significant new proposal to enable global businesses, big and small, to work together.

Reymond Voutier, head of the Washington-based Enotus think-tank which has helped to develop the initiative, told Anadolu Agency: “Turkey has nurtured a new initiative which could have a significant effect on the global economy.”

“One of the greatest challenges for the G20 this year will be working to restore trust in business,” added Selim Seval, head of the Dun & Bradstreet consultancy in Istanbul, and another architect of the initiative.

“Trust is needed to increase growth and restore jobs,” he told Anadolu Agency in an interview on Monday.

The proposal is expected to be among those put to the G20 Summit meeting in Antalya, Turkey on Nov. 14. It would then be taken up by the China presidency of the organization which will succeed that of Turkey at the end of the year, according to Philippe Montigny, head of the ETHIC Intelligence Certification Committee, which certifies compliance programs – Montigny has also worked on the initiative.

Montigny told Anadolu Agency: “The purpose of the initiative is to encourage companies to make proposals on or to communicate the details of initiatives with which they have had success in fostering confidence. These are made irrespective of the type of activity or sector of the business."

“For example, the ETHIC Intelligence certification process that we have designed allows companies to communicate in a credible way not only on their commitment to doing business with integrity but also on the means deployed to prevent corruption.”

The initiative is connected to one of the priorities of the Turkish G20, which is the support and development of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) across the globe. On May 27, Turkey launched the Small Business Forum in Istanbul, which will also take up this issue.

As Montigny pointed out, one of the great difficulties faced by small businesses is establishing trust with big corporations in order to join their global value chain. But big companies and small ones are very different kinds of animals, and getting them to communicate is a challenge.

“To the degree that the objective of the initiative is to strengthen relationships of trust between business, government and civil society, the potential for positive impact on small business is significant,” Montigny pointed out.

As part of the initiative, Voutier’s Enotus is developing an online platform which will make it easier for small and large businesses to connect, and achieve trust, wherever in the world they may be located.

As the initiative continues to develop in the G20, further projects and ways of implementing them will no doubt be added to the initiative.

“Trust became a major issue after the global financial crisis in 2008. Thanks to new initiatives at the G20, a clear direction has begun emerging throughout the international community to find ways of building trust among businesses,” commented Brook Horowitz, CEO of the International Business Leaders’ Forum, an NGO dedicated to promoting responsible business practice.