On October 23, 2023, the G20 Entrepreneurship Roundtable 2023 was held in the Foho High Tech Zone in Jiangsu Province. The event themed with “Promote Entrepreneurship and Employment in Platform Economy” was hosted by Tsinghua University’s Entrepreneurship Research Center on G20 Economies and cohosted by the International Labor Organization (ILO). And it marked the seventh consecutive one since the Entrepreneurship Research Center on G20 Economies was established in 2017.
Mr. Lv Yulin, Deputy Director (in charge) of International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China, Ms, Rie Vejs Kjeldgaard, Director of Department of Sustainable Enterprises, Productivity and Just Transition of the ILO, and Mr. Wu Weibin, Deputy Director of Management Committee of the Foho High Tech Zone, Jiangsu Province, attended the event and delivered the opening remarks.
Professor Gao Jian, Director of the Entrepreneurship Research Center on G20 Economies and professor at the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, Dr. Uma Rani, Senior expert from the ILO, and Mr. Marco Bianchini, Economist from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) delivered keynote speeches at the event.
Mr. Lv Yulin emphasized in his remarks that since its establishment, the Entrepreneurship Research Center on G20 Economies has been actively organizing G20 Entrepreneurship Roundtable, conducting relevant research, and establishing an excellent platform for the exchange of entrepreneurial insights and experiences among various stakeholders. This year, Research Center on G20 Economies actively participated in the G20’s employment initiatives and provided a progress report on the implementation of the G20 Entrepreneurship Action Plan to the G20 Employment Working Group. During the G20 Labor and Employment Ministers’ Meeting in July, Ministers from various members lauded the work of Research Center on G20 Economies and welcomed its annual Entrepreneurship Roundtable. Hosting of G20 Entrepreneurship Roundtable 2023 represents a significant and tangible step towards implementing the consensus reached at 2023 G20 Labor and Employment Ministers’ Meeting.
Ms. Rie Vejs Kjeldgaard expressed the ILO’s great pleasure in co-hosting the G20 Entrepreneurship Roundtable 2023 with the Entrepreneurship Research Center on G20 Economies. In her address, she highlighted that the growth of the platform economy provides opportunities for job creation, productivity growth and innovation. However, it also poses challenges in terms of promoting fair competition among businesses and ensuring employment protection, as well as social protection in line with decent work standards and international labor norms for workers. As such, gaining a deeper understanding of platform companies and their employees is crucial, and the sharing and exchanges at this year’s roundtable contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of this issue.
Mr. Wu Weibin, on behalf of Foho High Tech Zone in Jiangsu Province, extended a warm welcome to the delegates and guests from various countries. He introduced the merits of Foho as a leading area in the national strategy for the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, emphasizing its advantages in terms of location, industries, and the ecological environment.
Professor Gao Jian delivered a keynote speech titled “Analysis of Global Major Platform Companies in Driving Entrepreneurship and Employment.” He pointed out that platform companies, due to their immense scale, are a positive force propelling global economic development. Currently, there are 55 platform companies worldwide with a market capitalization exceeding USD 10 billion. These platform companies generate a significant number of job opportunities through various means, such as direct employment, offering flexible job opportunities, and creating both direct and indirect employment within their ecosystems. Furthermore, platform companies contribute to the emergence of new professions, enhance employment inclusion, and promote entrepreneurship by providing markets, short-term loans, and technological empowerment for entrepreneurs and small businesses.
In her keynote speech, Dr. Uma Rani, a senior expert at the ILO, highlighted that digital labor platforms are providing new job opportunities, assisting individuals including women, people with disabilities, youth, and those disadvantaged in traditional labor markets in enhancing income. At the same time, workers on these platforms also face challenges related to working conditions, regularity, income, and social security.
Mr. Marco Bianchini, from OECD, provided valuable insights into the importance of digital platforms, the essential conditions for digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and policy recommendations aimed at advancing government initiatives for SME digitalization. He underscored that the policy designs in SME digital transformation should be on a profound understanding of the targeting groups. The OECD Digital for SMEs Global Initiative (D4SME) continually unveils the features and developments in SME digitalization through network establishment and investigations.
At 2023 G20 Entrepreneurship Roundtable, participants engaged in in-depth discussions on five key topics, including policies and practices of G20 members to promote platform enterprises to drive employment and entrepreneurship, opportunities and challenges of entrepreneurship and employment brought by platform business, platform ecosystem and SMEs, global development trend and innovation of platform enterprises, and contribution of platform enterprises for UNSDG. The delegates include government officials from G20 member countries, scholars from research institutions, business leaders from globally renowned platform companies, representatives from entrepreneurship investment and service organizations, as well as delegates from international organizations like ILO, OECD, UNESCO, and World Bank.