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B20 and the G20 YEA Summit on 15-16 June 2017

The G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance Summit on Digital Trends for Future Business was held on 15- 16 June 2017 in Berlin, Germany. The relationship between the Business 20 (B20) and the Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (YEA) is particularly important, as young entrepreneurs play a vital role for growth, innovation, and job creation. With a close relationship between the B20 and the YEA, the business community can raise a strong and united voice.

The G20 YEA´s 2013 Moscow Summit was the first substantial engagement of the G20 YEA in the B20 and resulted in the inclusion of language on youth entrepreneurship in the subsequent G20´s Saint Petersburg communiqué. The G20 YEA´s 2014 Sydney Summit created a global action plan for young entrepreneurs, and the G20 YEA´s 2015 Istanbul Summit yielded a commitment in the G20 communiqué at Antalya that year to “support the better integration of our young people into the labour market including through the promotion of entrepreneurship”. In 2016, members of the G20 YEA began to work in the B20 Taskforces, which in 2017 resulted in an open invitation by B20 Germany Chair, Jürgen Heraeus, for the entrepreneurs of the G20 YEA to become even more involved in the B20 Taskforces. As a result, the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance was appointed to a “networking partner” to the B20.

In an increasingly interconnected world, demographic changes, technological advancements, and increased mobility are profoundly changing the world of work and are expected to do so even more in the future. In order to find concrete solutions to today’s challenges, there needs to be cooperation, and the young economy will play a vital role in this. Improving viability for the future should be achieved by implementing innovative and fair competitive conditions. The world needs an innovative approach for sustainable growth and development, and this is especially important for entrepreneurs.

The Summit included speeches by Carsten Lexa, G20 YEA President of Germany and Dr. Eric Schweitzer, President of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) as well as a keynote by German Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy Brigitte Zypries and a video message from Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. B20 Germany Sherpa, Dr. Stormy-Annika Mildner also spoke at the Summit, where she emphasized the importance of the young economy in shaping the future of the global economy and stressed her interest in further strengthening the relationship between the G20 YEA and the B20 in the future. “Young entrepreneurs, their ideas, and innovative solutions are key for an open and interconnected world.” The Summit involved several interesting breakout sessions, digital success stories from Germany and many more interesting speeches. A key aspect of Day 2 of the Summit was the Communiqué Process, in which delegates decided on the top 3 policy recommendations to be included in the final G20 YEA Communiqué. The final signing of the Communiqué and a hand over to Argentina closed out the G20 YEA Summit 2017 on Digital Trends for Future Business.

B20 Germany endorses the G20 YEA Communiqué, with specific recommendations to the G20 on quality education, smart taxation schemes, and ensuring the mobility of entrepreneurs through a G20 Entrepreneur Visa and administrative facilitation.

  • Quality Education – A key to success is education. The G20 YEA calls upon the G20 governments to review educational priorities to ensure young people have access to knowledge and skills vital for new technological and business realities, including digital competencies, STEM education, and venture creation skills. B20 strongly supports this recommendation.

  • Smart Taxation Schemes – The G20 YEA Communiqué calls on G20 leaders to enable SMEs to scale through tax incentives for scale-ups and investors by adopting progressive policy measures. They also encourage the harmonization of tax schemes in the G20 countries to lower barriers for doing business. SMEs generate roughly 50 to 70 percent of jobs and income and are the main pillar of nearly every national economy around the world.

  • Ensure the mobility of entrepreneurs through a G20 Entrepreneur Visa and administrative simplification – The G20 YEA calls on the G20 governments to establish a G20 Entrepreneur Visa Program to provide short-term multi-entry visas and administrative simplification for young entrepreneurs by 2020. With this, entrepreneurs will contribute to job and skill creation whenever they go abroad to start a business. Reducing administrative and regulatory barriers will create a positive environment for young entrepreneurs. 

The Communiqué also included a general request to facilitate SME participation in cross-border trade and global value chains. B20 strongly supports this request. Small and growing companies will significantly benefit by a stronger SME representation in the WTO, and by strengthening the knowledge of SME market access impediments.

The contributions of the G20 YEA have helped the B20 to produce high quality output and have engaged in our dialogue process, ensuring that we are a reliable partner to the G20. And the G20 needs reliable partners in an increasingly complex and uncertain world. The B20 is looking forward to a continued, fruitful cooperation with G20 Young Entreprenuers’ Alliance.

 

Read the full G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance Germany communiqué here.

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