World leaders, global CEOs seek to address global economy challenges

By Anna Gabriela A. Mogato
WORLD LEADERS and chief executive officers from 60 countries pledged to address issues hampering the global economy with the formation of an international forum during the conclusion of Bloomberg’s New Economy forum.
In a statement on Wednesday, more than 70 organizations had agreed to create a New Economy Forum “SolutionsLab”, a platform for the development of solutions to the challenges new economies are facing.
“Talk is good. But talk followed by action is better,” Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP, said during his opening statement in the forum.
“The private sector has a critical role to play in meeting all of these challenges and many others. The more business leaders talk with one another — and take the lead in building new partnerships — the faster we can make progress,” he added.
Through various workshops held during the forum, industry leaders firmed up and committed to 10 solutions, namely:
• Developing a corporate certification program for worker re-skilling
• Committing to train, hire and integrate refugees
• Creating a coalition to support and ensure gender equality
• Developing perspectives and providing recommendations on a “New Corporate Social Contract”
• Outlining principles for responsible and beneficial use of Artificial Intelligence.
• Improving urban mobility by exploring employee mobility options
• Creating global partnerships to improve the financial inclusion of micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries.
• Forming a private-sector coalition of companies to support public administrators of Super Cities by providing skills training
• Forming a working group to stabilize markets for recycled plastics
• Forming a working group to develop and share a portfolio of sustainable and environmentally-friendly supply chains.
BloombergMedia Group CEO Justin B. Smith, said that with the private sector coming together to deal with the global economy’s problems, they expect their governments to follow suit by drafting policies to support these solutions.
“This is the start of an exciting journey towards a more sustainable and equitable economic system, where a new community of business leaders are charting the path forward in view of the rise of new economies and market opportunities,” he said.