These days text communications shorthand is using “Gr8” to mean “great”. It looks and sounds similar to “G8” a heading that many people see in their newspapers and websites. The G8 heading is now part of my daily activity. We even have a website: @G8 and a similar Twitter address. What’s going on?
The UK has taken over the Presidency of the G8 for the next twelve months. So London will be organising lots of international meetings using lots of diplomatic jargon like “summits”, “sherpas” and “solving sensitive subjects”. Many people will switch off and think that it doesn’t matter; it’s just a lot of hot air.
But they would be wrong. This work touches on questions that can change people’s lives.
But first, what is the G8? It brings together the largest open economies in the world: the US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada, Russia and the UK. The EU also attends the meetings.
These countries’ governments meet at different levels culminating in an annual “summit”: a meeting of heads of government. The meetings are prepared by “sherpas” officials whose role is named after the Nepalese guides who lead climbers up Himalayan summits.
Together, these countries make up a large proportion of the world’s economic activity. So what they talk about is relevant to anyone who is looking for a job and trying to feed a family.
They look at how to increase trade and make sure that countries can grow, attract investment and offer employment. Their decisions affect all of us.
During the next year, the UK’s Presidency of the G8 will look at ways to tackle poverty and increase prosperity. The central themes that we will concentrate on will be open economies, open societies and inclusive growth.
Again, there is a danger of slipping into language and jargon that means little to the person on the street. How do these comfortable-sounding phrases matter to ordinary people struggling to make ends meet?
Our aim is to make a difference by unleashing the power of the private sector. It is private business that will create jobs that will produce lasting wealth and reduce poverty.
The public sector, ie jobs in government and public services are important but they mainly consume tax-payers money – so increasing them means raising taxes.
Unleashing the private sector means increasing trade between countries, making it easier and cheaper for consumers to buy the things they need. It means reducing corruption and cutting the vast amount of wealth – estimated to be between $20-40 billion – that is stolen and salted away by corrupt elites in mineral-rich developing countries.
It means promoting a new approach to development by supporting the “golden thread” of conditions that support prosperity and growth for all: the rule of law, the absence of conflict, quality education and good healthcare.
This agenda is directly relevant to Jordan under the G8 Deauville Partnership, where similar themes can support growth, especially the need to support a vibrant private sector and create opportunities for women and young people.
The G8 has set up a Transition Fund of $250 million to provide technical assistance for making government more effective. The UK and Jordan have joint responsibility for managing this initiative this year.
Another area of work is through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, an institution that has done such a good job of modernising Eastern European economies and is now extending its investment activities to the Middle East, including Jordan.
All these issues will come to a head at a summit meeting in Northern Ireland in June. Yes, there will be communiqués, official statements and press conferences full of fine-sounding and well-meaning words.
But we should all bear in mind that the aim is to fire up the world’s economies and help make everyone better off. It isn’t easy, but the effort is vitally important.
At the end of the year, you can judge whether the G8 is really Gr8.