It would also be useful for the UN and other intergovernmental bodies to establish rules to clarify the legitimacy and accountability of many new non-governmental organizations engaged in the public policy dialogue which proclaim themselves to represent particular interests or significant sections of civil society. Business priorities for world trade World business attaches the utmost importance to an open multilateral system that guarantees the free flow of goods, services and investment across borders. Against this background, ICC congratulates the G7 governments on the landmark agreement, concluded in the WTO since the Denver Summit, to liberalize trade in financial services. Unemployment and low growth cannot be cured by protectionism. One major lesson to be drawn from Asia's current financial crisis is the necessity to resist protectionist pressures and to keep markets open in order to restore much-needed confidence and stability.
Companies trade to invest and they invest to trade.
ICC urged the first Ministerial Conference of the WTO to aim to build a solid consensus for work to begin within the WTO to establish a truly global framework of rules and disciplines to govern cross-border direct investment. We were gratified that Ministers took a step in that direction by setting up a working group to examine the relationship between trade and investment - albeit without prejudging whether negotiations will be initiated in the future. ICC urges participating governments to set a firm date for the completion of the MAI negotiations. ICC believes an MAI would create a more certain environment for foreign direct investment in industrialized countries by raising standards of investment liberalization, and of non-discrimination, protection, and dispute settlement for foreign investors, beyond those currently provided in existing bilateral and regional investment treaties. However, ICC is concerned about some proposals under discussion that would require certain environmental and labour standards.