ILO Director-General welcomes Business Leaders’ Declaration on International Trade and Economic Recovery at Davos

(8 February 2010)  

GENEVA (ILO news) – ILO Director-General Juan Somavia welcomed a statement adopted by the International Business Council (IBC) of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Mr. Somavia underlined the statement's call for "a focus on a jobs-led recovery. Increasing trade flows will be crucial. We must reinforce the role of international trade as an engine for growth and development. The benefits will be even greater when coordinated with coherent employment and social policies”.

Mr. Somavia also emphasized the call to “implement recovery plans that must help preserve employment and prioritize job growth, while continuing to protect and support the unemployed and the young generation, those most at risk of unemployment”.

The ILO Director-General said the ILO Global Jobs Pact adopted by labour, employer and government representatives last year and backed by the United Nations and G20 leaders provides an important impetus to crisis recovery efforts by stimulating productive investment in the real economy.

Mr. Somavia said the IBC statement embodied the convergence of public policies and private investment that will be needed to forge a global jobs response to the crisis. He also warned that failure to address the deepening unemployment crisis could lead to social consequences and instability, and could fuel recourse to protectionism.

The Business Leaders’ Declaration on International Trade and Economic Recovery urges heads of government to follow through on commitments made at recent high-level meetings, including the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh and support the need for 'a concerted effort to put decent jobs at the heart of the recovery'.

The International Business Council (IBC), established 2001, is an interactive community of concerned and committed business leaders made up of more than 100 highly respected and influential chief executives from all industries.