*Sarkozy

[chris macrae]

As well as putting France's national brand name on being the first to design an SMBA, Sarkozy has

 

charged Martin Hirsch to connect entrepreneurial spirit into government departments of youth employment, end poverty, trade relationships , regional startup programs etc

 

commissioned reports on errors or black holes in conventional macroeconomics, and required debate of actions to chnage this at G20 and EU meetings

 

started up the eG8

 

generally among world leaders been the most positive influence since the British Broadcasting Corporation's tragic error of helping Hasina fuel her Vendetta against Yunus which has so far let her remove yunus from his role of stewardship of the bank he founded on the grounds og being over 60! 

 

2011 G20 Cannes Summit

November 3-4, 2011

See also
From the G20 Research Group: Analysis | Plans and Preparations
Official website of the French G20 presidency

• Nicolas Sarkozy speech at the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors, Paris, February 18 2011 [en français]
• France issues invitations to Cannes Summit, February 12, 2011
• Nicolas Sarkozy speech at Davos, January 27, 2011 [PDF in English] [Speech in French]
• Nicolas Sarkozy presentation and press conference on the G20 and G8 summits, Paris, January 24, 2011
  • Priorities [en français]
  • Dossier [PDF en français]
• Official website of the French G8-G20 presidency, launched on January 24, 2011
  • France's priorities for the G20

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Microcredit and microfinance invite themselves to the G20! http://blog.lefigaro.fr/babyloan/2011/07/babyloan-et-yunus-invites-...

By Arnaud Fishmonger on July 9, 2011 2:06 p.m. | 2 Comments

 

Yesterday and part of the French presidency of the G20 held an event in the Senate exeptionnel: the G20 conference on Micro Finance . In inititation Bank of France, and a bit like the recent e-G8 for the Internet, it was a first than to include in the work of the G20 about a conference dedicated the Micro Finance. The work of the G20 group already had a     Muhammad Yunus - photo Eric Couderc  work on financial inclusion, here they are now completed a thorough examination of the development and future activities of microcredit and microfinance in the world. Introduced by Jean Arthuis, yesterday's event, come and spend complete assignments of work and reflections occurred early in June, led the writing of twenty recommendations to member states on measures to be taken to better regulate and harmonize the ecosystem of these beautiful instruments of development. The recent crises in India and elsewhere have shown how important it is that governments as well as field workers take the time and the necessary perspective to the analysis of some deviant situations.

For enthusiasts of the subject it is in the Senate need to be yesterday, much of the world gratin was present, led by Professor Yunus, the great witness of the conference, and have succeeded to the podium in all those with sector, representatives of major micro-finance Institutions designated as the Cambodian qu'Akleda, Enda the tunsienne, Accion American Indian or Basix. but also about twenty French central bankers and Maria Nowak (ADIE), Jacques Attali (PlanetFinace) or Dov Zerah (Director General of AFD). The major global players in the regulation, consulting and financing were also sent their representatives. Tolal to forty players for a comprehensive pannorama the subject. Babyloan second global platform of solidarity microcredit, was also ...

The exchange of the day and the preparatory work has emphasized the role social role of microfinance as well as its enormous potential. Three major challenges have been prepared for field players and regulators:  the challenge of financial sector stability, the access to resources, including local              photo Eric Couderc            to ensure its development and the challenge of the necessary balance between social and financial inclusion.

The work of the conference led to the writing of a score of specific proposals that will be distributed to delegations of the G20 and B20 so that they can be part, hopefully, the work of our Heads of State at the Cannes summit in November.

For if it is a message we will remember this day is that of a social finance, direct and efficient, which is comparable to traditional finance which we have suffered abuse in recent years. Professor Yunus himself embodies quite well the thought of all those involved in develoloppement, "aujourdh'ui, microfinance is a tool at the margins of global finance, why does not she become the reference of the funds in that 'she humanist, finance has become an industry in the service itself, while microfinance is a tool for man "nothing to add, everything is said!

[chris macrae]

 

On the day of meetings in Strasbourg, Professor Yunus said: "I am deeply convinced that the 'social business' can help fix the economic system that exists today and can solve serious social problems that surround us. I'm very happy have received a set of positive and enthusiastic response from President Barroso, President Buzek and by other MEPs and Commissioners. These will certainly have a far-reaching impact on how we think and work. " Mário David was "extremely satisfied" and "honored" by the fact that Prof.. Yunus has accepted his invitation, adding, "the infectious enthusiasm of Professor leaves no one indifferent! What if 'social business' (social business) is not the solution to all problems, is certainly a tool to be seized as can overcome many of the problems of our society, particularly the most disadvantaged, while stimulating entrepreneurship and personal fulfillment. " The program of meetings of Professor Yunus and consisted of Mr Mario David meetings with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso , President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, Commissioner Michel Barnier (Internal Market) and Vice-President Tajani (Industry and Entrepreneurship); Presidents of Parliamentary Groups (Joseph Daul, EPP, Martin Schulz, S & D and Jan Zahradil-ECR), and with the Chairpersons of Parliament's Economy, Development, External Relations and the Delegation of South Asia Professor Yunus also had a working lunch, and Mario David (Portugal MEP) as host, on the concept of "social business" / microcredit Social with a group of deputies from different Member States and a meeting open to MPs and parliamentary staff on the same subject, in the evening.

 

http://www.youthandyunus.com/posts/view/193/17/eu_commission_presid...

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso has said.

He said social business is also “a smart investment in our shared future. The European Commission will therefore continue its substantial aid to microcredit projects across the globe.”

 

Later, he was received by Parliament President Jerzy Buzek in the latter's chamber. In a statement Buzek said: "Microcredit should be supported around the world. I would like to welcome in particular the microcredit facilities in Bangladesh -- the native country of Prof Yunus.”

Buzek, also former Polish prime minister, praised the concept of social business, pioneered by Prof Yunus, and hoped to work on ways to help new partners connect with social business.

He invited the Grameen Bank founder to Poland to introduce social business to the business leaders in his country with an offer to organise the tour.

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MEP wants EU 'social stock exchange' in UK

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Thursday 7 July 2011 - by Jacqui Street

British MEP and chair of the European Parliament's Econ committee Sharon Bowles wants London to be the home of a European stock exchange for companies that aim to fix social problems.

Bowles has met Nobel Peace Prize Winner Mohammad Yunus in Strasbourg to discuss social business, or enterprises that make a social impact but no loss or dividend.

Yunus believes the current capitalist stock markets do not cater for "the selfless dimensions of the people."

He wants a market to trade shares of social businesses. "An investor will come to this stock-exchange in order to find a social business, which has a mission to his or her liking, just as someone who wants to make money goes to the existing stock-market," says Yunus.

Yunus says the social stock market would need social ratings agencies, terminologies and reporting formats similar to capitalist markets.

Bowles says Europe is an obvious place for a social stock exchange and London could be the social stock centre. But she admits: "That could only happen if UK involvement in the project took-off."

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said after meeting Yunus on Wednesday that strengthening social business "is a concrete way to help the poorest of the poor."

Bowles says she hopes to attend an international conference on social business in Austria in November.

Source: http://www.gfsnews.com/article/2334/1/MEP_wants_EU__social_stock_ex...

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from http://www.g20-g8.com/g8-g20/g20/english/home.9.html

 

We can change the lives of a billion small farmers » : the prioriti...

SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
Opening of the meeting of G20 Agriculture Ministers
Élysée Palace -- Wednesday 22 June 2011

Ministers,
Directors-general of International Organisations,
Ambassadors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Who would have believed, when the G20 met for the first time in Washington, that these meetings would lead us three years later to address the topic of agriculture?

However, to rebuild global capitalism is not only to change the way in which it operates, it is also to make the needs of peoples and human activities once again a central focus for its priorities. Agriculture is the world's primary activity; agriculture is the first response to the vital needs of the population. For those who still have any doubts as to this, recent events provide dramatic proof of the urgency of ensuring that the agricultural sector is central to our action. Since the beginning of the year, 44 million human beings have sunk into poverty, since the beginning of the year, in countries that are in danger at every moment of destabilisation due to food riots.

For too long now we have been content to say that agriculture is one parameter of global growth among others. When agricultural crises occurred, due to lack of consensus, to lack of courage, lack of courage as well, reports were written, the necessity was expressed of reflection on the issues -- later, invariably later. In actual fact, never. Today it is time to act. Agriculture must be restored to its rightful place in a world economy which is meaningful once again, a world economy that creates value for all and shares it, an economy that respects the work of small farmers and drives sustainable growth.

The lives of billions of people around the world are at stake; the balance of your societies is at stake; the preservation of our natural resources is at stake.

Rocketing commodity prices are endangering the global recovery. They can plunge whole populations into famine and poverty. They will lead to riots if we do nothing. Urgent action is needed now. We must act, act together if we are to avoid another agricultural and food crisis for the world.

That is why the French Presidency of the G20 wished to draw on all the driving forces of global agriculture, looking beyond the G20 alone: from the United Nations General Assembly to the Davos Economic Forum, from enterprises in the agricultural and agrifood sectors to the 48 States gathered together by Germany on 22 January last, from international organisations to the farmers of 70 countries who met in Paris last week.

That mobilisation must not lead us to forget the primary responsibility, that of the governments of the G20. It is your task, as agriculture ministers, to put forward the action plan that will guide all the efforts to come.

Faced with the financial crisis, the G20 demonstrated its ability to relaunch the world economy and go on to institute new regulatory controls. Regulation is not a dirty word. A market with no rules has ceased to be a market. What we were capable of doing for financial markets, we have a duty to do for agricultural markets.

The countries of the G20 represent 65% of all agricultural land, 77% of global production of cereals and 80% of world trade in agricultural products. The countries of the G20 have immense weight in global agriculture, and for that reason their responsibility for the future of global agriculture is also immense. We cannot say, you cannot say: it is the fault of somebody else. It is our responsibility, and now, not tomorrow, but now.

Yes, I know that the present crisis is complex. If it were enough to say that problems are complex in order not to deal with them, and if we have to give up dealing with complex problems, then you might as well spend your time sightseeing in Paris, because all problems are complex by their very nature, but if we analyse what happened in 2008, and what is happening today, we can see clearly what the main limits of our present system are.

We all know that agricultural production is insufficient to meet demand. I would like to get this idea across in the media of the entire world: global production is insufficient to meet demand. And it is going to get worse. In order to feed the nine billion people who will be on the planet in 2050, world agricultural production will need to increase by 70%. But over the last twenty years it has been rising at no more than 1.5% a year -- or half the rate of the preceding 30 years. So we should have no fear of each other. Add up the agricultural production of all our countries and we will still not satisfy global demand. We're all in this together.

This requires the mobilisation of every agricultural sector, in Africa, in Asia, in the United States and in Europe, through the CAP. It is a mobilisation that we need to start as of now because it is now that shortages are already beginning to make themselves felt.

Take the example of wheat. At this point in the year we already know that the balance will be precarious between expected production and forecasts for global consumption driven by India and the countries of North Africa. The stocks available to supplement production are inadequate, and there is a risk that the production of the main exporters will be much lower than in previous years, in the United States due to the floods in the Midwest and in Europe because of the drought.

If we are to produce more and better, we must reinvest in agriculture. We must help the poorest countries develop their own agriculture and seek to ensure that the commitments given at the Rome Summit and the L'Aquila Summit are finally fulfilled.

We must also encourage research and innovation through programmes of international cooperation.
We must improve infrastructures that allow production to be transported and stored. Many harvests of cereal crops are destroyed because they have not been stored in the right conditions.

The second limit we find ourselves up against relates to the lack of information on agricultural markets. Agricultural markets are the least transparent of all the world's markets. Is there a country that wishes to defend such opacity? Everyone works in their own specific area. All of us work in our own areas and nobody has a comprehensive view of the prospects for production and consumption or even the situation with regard to stocks.

The only data available are those of the US Ministry of Agriculture, and Europe must make up for time lost where this is concerned. This lack of transparency fosters price volatility. The price of a metric ton of wheat has doubled in six months: from 140 euros last July, to 280 euros in February 2011 and falling back to 225 euros today. Is that a properly functioning market? Can anyone explain to me how demand could have changed so much in the space of a year?

Volatility has dramatic consequences for everybody, producers and consumers, developing and developed countries. I have in mind here European farmers who feel the impact of price volatility all the more for the fact that for many years the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) protected them from fluctuations in world markets. I am also thinking of African farmers; indeed, that is why I am pleased that NEPAD and the African Union were invited to the G20.

Volatility, let us be absolutely clear about this, is a scourge. Volatility is a scourge for small farmers and for consumers, as well as for the stability of States; volatility is a threat because it endangers agricultural productivity for years to come: What farmer can commit himself to major investment when he is at risk of losing a third of his income the following year? What businessman would risk investing in such an unstable market?

What is France proposing? To do for agriculture what we have been able to do for oil: set up a joint database to give all concerned access to comprehensive, reliable and regularly updated information. I salute the undertaking of European Commissioner Ciolos to make available, from this autumn, European data on the main categories of agricultural production.

The extent of the current crisis is also explained, as we must acknowledge, by our own limitations, and in particular by our inability to coordinate our actions to avoid crises. We must learn the lessons of the dramatic events of 2008 in which everybody took decisions unilaterally, without coordination. We must avoid protectionist reflex reactions; we must agree on a code of good practice prohibiting export restrictions for the purchase of emergency food aid. That requires the definition of common rules for dialogue, and perhaps even the creation of a forum that would enable mutual consultation by the major actors in agricultural markets in order to respond quickly, immediately a crisis arises.

We would be well-advised to decide to mobilise humanitarian reserves in the most vulnerable geographical areas. The idea is not to build up public stocks with the intention of stabilising prices! That does not work. We know that is impossible.

But we must at least act to ensure that when food and humanitarian crises occur intervention by international organisations such as the WFP does not contribute to rising prices due to their purchases of large volumes on markets at the most critical time! Such a situation may seem absurd, but unfortunately it is something that has been observed all too often.

We must experiment in Africa with different ways of using emergency reserves in order to learn from the most successful experiments in the field. Alongside this, insurance must not be a tool reserved only for the richest.

On all these topics I know that the work done by the World Bank can provide input for the proposals that you will make with your colleagues, finance ministers and development ministers.

And to conclude, the present crisis is a reflection of the limitations of predatory capitalism. Since 2008 we have been witness to massive purchases of land: for example, in 2009 alone proposed land purchases exceeded 50 million hectares, an area equal to that of France, 70% of which related to Af-rica alone. Given this, how can African agriculture ever develop for the benefit of local populations? How could it? We must implement a code of good practice for land purchases.

Agricultural commodities are now among the underlyings of financial derivatives, whose use is spreading uncontrollably. The financialisation of agricultural markets, even if it does not explain everything, is a contributory factor in price volatility and food insecurity for the most vulnerable. It opens the door to the manipulations -- I say again, manipulations -- we have seen in recent months. We are all aware of what has happened in the cocoa market. Let me remind you that a market that is not regulated is not a market, it is a lottery, a lottery in which fortune smiles on the most cynical, instead of rewarding hard work, rewarding investment and rewarding the production of value.

That is why the French Presidency of the G20 has expressed a wish to see financial regulation extended to markets for agricultural derivatives. It is crucial for you to be able to work alongside the finance ministers because intelligent and effective regulation must inevitably involve cooperation between the regulators of physical markets and the regulators of financial markets.

Reinvestment in agriculture, transparency in agricultural markets, coordination between States, regulation: such are the watchwords of the action plan you have defined with Bruno Le Maire, who has my thanks and my complete confidence. It is my wish that you should be able to adopt it tomorrow. Ladies and gentlemen, the eyes of the whole world are upon you, you, the ministers of agriculture. This is a major step in building a new global agriculture.

Ministers,

The success of the G20 Summit in Cannes depends on you. This is the first time you have gathered together. This is the first time that agriculture has achieved the status of a priority for world growth. In remedying the problem of volatility in agricultural markets and ensuring food security for the world of today and tomorrow, it is the entire edifice of capitalism that we are in the process of rebalancing. By adopting this plan, you can change not just the lives of a billion small farmers but the very evolution of capitalism to ensure that it, capitalism, finds real meaning once again: to contribute to the development and wellbeing of human beings.

The whole world is counting on your decisions, on your action -- the whole world cannot wait.