B20 Russia, 23 May 2013.  A meeting of the Business 20 Organizing Committee on preparations for the G20 Business Summit, to be held as part of the St.Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 20-21, 2013, took place at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the United Kingdom. Russia was represented at the meeting by the President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) and Chief of the Business 20 for the period of the Russian Presidency Alexander Shokhin.

The meeting participants considered the draft recommendations of the Business 20 Task Forces – the ”Green Book”. All groups of recommendations and proposals, which have been further presented for wider discussion, were covered at the meeting.

“The mechanism of business-to-government dialogue within the G20 is being developed quite successfully. The RSPP, which heads the Business 20 over the period of the Russian G20 Presidency, together with foreign partners seeks for the optimal form of cooperation with due regard to the experience gained over the last five years,” Alexander Shokhin stressed.

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OECD, 17 May 2013.  We, the heads of tax administrations from 45 economies, have come together here in Moscow for the 8th meeting of the Forum on Tax Administration. We meet at a time when our Governments continue to face significant challenges in overcoming the impact of the global financial crisis. We are dedicated to securing high levels of voluntary tax compliance by providing excellent service and effectively addressing tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance in all its forms, including the underground economy.

These are key elements in managing and responding to the effects of the crisis. As heads of tax administration, we are committed to co-ordinated action and united in our resolve and determination to improve the effectiveness of our tax administrations, tackle trans-national tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning.

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OECD, 3 May 2013. Multilateral agreement to cut red tape in international trade would dramatically reduce trading costs and add a substantial boost to the global economy, according to new OECD research.

The OECD Trade Facilitation Indicators estimate that comprehensive implementation of all measures currently being negotiated in the World Trade Organization’s Doha Development Round would reduce total trade costs by 10% in advanced economies and by 13-15.5% in developing countries.  Reducing global trade costs by 1% would increase worldwide income by more than USD $40 billion, most of which would accrue in developing countries, according to the OECD.

“Trade facilitation is about easing access to the global marketplace,” OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said. “Complicated border processes and excess red tape raise costs, which ultimately fall on businesses, consumers and our economies. The trade facilitation negotiations offer countries a golden opportunity to reduce or eliminate these bottlenecks, cut the cost of trading, boost the flow of goods and reap greater benefits from international trade,” Mr Gurría said.

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On the Trade Facilitation Indicators

Read B20 Coalition Joint Letter on Trade Facilitation

IMF, 6 May 2013.  Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean is set to pick up from 3 percent in 2012 to 3½ percent in 2013, supported by stronger external demand, favorable financing conditions, and the effects of earlier policy easing in some countries, the IMF said.

In its Regional Economic Outlook for the Western Hemisphere, released on May 6 in Montevideo, Uruguay, the IMF said that external risks to the near-term outlook have receded. Policy actions in the euro area and the United States have removed immediate threats to global growth and financial stability, the report said.

That said, in the United States, failure to replace the automatic fiscal spending cuts (“the sequester”) with more backloaded measures before the start of the next fiscal year (in October) would affect growth in late 2013 and beyond.

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G20 Russia, 29 April 2013.  Dmitry Feoktistov, Deputy Director of the Department of New Challenges and Threats of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-Chair the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group, in an interview to the RIA Novosti news agency spoke on anti-corruption activities of the G20 and Russia’s proposals in the field of fighting corruption.

Question: Why is the G20 so focused on countering corruption?

Dmitry Feoktistov: Not only the G20, but the entire world is focused on this issue, because corruption is a huge multidimensional problem. For instance, morally, corruption is eroding people’s souls – both the bribe-takers and bribe-payers are involved in unsavory deals. It also has an enormous economic dimension: the developing economies are losing between $20 billion and $40 billion annually due to corruption. And a political dimension as well: anti-corruption measures applied by some countries are sometimes used by the other not with fair-minded intentions.

The G20 is drawing particular attention to the problem, since a two-year Anti-Corruption Action Plan was adopted last year. Now, during Russia’s G20 presidency, we are halfway towards its completion. This is a comprehensive document, with targets in more than 10 different areas of work. We discussed it during the first meeting of the Anti-Corruption Working Group in Moscow in February. The next meeting will take place in Ottawa in June.

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