Interview: IOE president hopes G20 summit to be engine of reform

A gardener maintains a G20 themed flower terrace at Jiangnan Avenue in Binjiang District of Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Aug. 25, 2016. The G20 Summit will be held in Hangzhou on Sept. 4 to 5. (Xinhua/Yin Dongxun)

GENEVA, Aug.25 -- Daniel Funes de Rioja, president of the International Organization of Employers (IOE), has expected that the upcoming G20 summit could give a strong impetus to comprehensive reform efforts at national level.

"The G20 is an important international platform for policy coordination, but it has not yet become an engine for reform," De Rioja, who is also a co-chair of Business 20 (B20) Employment Task Force, told Xinhua on Thursday in an exclusive interview.

This year's G20 summit will be convened on Sept.4-5 in Hangzhou, China and its theme is "Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy." B20 supports the work of G20 by hosting focused policy discussions and developing recommendations.

De Rioja praised China for choosing the right motto and agreed that G20 needs to be more innovative and invigorated.

He also emphasized the importance of inclusive development, adding that having a job is "the best medicine against poverty and exclusion."

He recalled that the B20 Employment Task Force has developed important recommendations for creating an enabling environment for growth and job creation and to bring people into employment.

De Rioja also reminded that palpable headway can only be achieved if relations between members are permeated by a sense of trust.

"The G20 has to play an active role to combine positive results in the economic and social field. Prosperity requires growth, investment, technology and innovation, with employment and social coverage for all," he said.

"However, the common ground has to be peace, rule of law and mutual respect between people" and members, he concluded.