World seeing transitions in digital, energy, supply chains: Chandrasekaran

The B20, a platform of businesses from G20 nations, has focused on ongoing industry-wide transitions in the digital and artificial intelligence, energy, and global value and supply chain spaces to draw up its recommendations to the G20 nations, Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Friday.

Chandrasekaran, who is the chair of B20 India, said the country was well positioned to lead in all the three transitions.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the B20 Summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Chandrasekharan said the seven task forces and two action councils formed had formulated 54 recommendations and 172 policy enablers. They are intended for consideration by the G20 nations.

He also announced four important mechanisms, including a new ‘Global B20 Institute’, with the objective of being an evangelist and a change agent with highly experienced people.

Key recommendations on digital transformation include developing harmonised cybersecurity standards and frameworks for promoting digital trust along with enterprise transformation for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through access to sustainable finance, Tata group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rajesh Gopinathan, who is chairing the task force, said.

Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO and Managing Director (MD) Uday Kotak, chair of the Task Force on Financing for Global Economic Recovery, said it had deliberated extensively on galvanising private sector funding. It will be utilised for attaining sustainable development goals (SGD) and global public good.

It has proposed setting up of a Global SDG Acceleration Fund to help bridge the SDG financing gap.

Kotak urged the global business community to contribute 0.2 per cent of its profits towards identified social goals. He narrowed the resource flow to four areas — climate change, energy transition, biodiversity, and ocean pollution.

On inclusive global value chains, the B20 has recommended four priority themes — building resilient and sustainable global value chains, technology and trade 4.0, diversifying and advancing services trade, and fostering inclusive trade for less developed countries (LDCs), MSMEs, women and youth.

Apollo Hospitals Executive Vice-Chairperson Shobana Kamineni, who is the chair of the Future of Work Task Force, said its recommendations included fostering inclusive and sustainable growth in the transforming world of work, imperative for skilling, and enhancing workforce mobility.

Sajjan Jindal, chairman and MD of JSW Group, and chair of the Task Force on Energy, Climate Change and Resource Efficiency, said its focus areas were global transition to net zero, ramping up climate finance, an equitable transition for inclusion and promoting a circular economy.

SBI Chairperson Dinesh Kumar Khara, who is chair of the Task Force on Financial Inclusion for Economic Empowerment, underlined that the development of a framework for financial inclusion and economic empowerment encompassed 11 key priority themes. They include greater private sector involvement, fast-tracking digital public infrastructure rollout and incentivising cross-border payments, among others.

The task force also suggested a few advocacy outcomes, such as the creation of a framework to evaluate the performance of countries on financial inclusion and setting up of a B20 ‘secretariat on financial inclusion’, he said.

The B20 India Action Council on African Economic Integration has strongly supported the coming together of B20 leaders to support the inclusion of the African Economic Union as a permanent G20 member, Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Bharati Mittal, chairman of the council, said.