Business leaders attending the B20 Summit called for political leaders to push for the establishment of a multi-currency key currency system.

At the meeting of business leaders in Cannes, France held ahead of the G20 Summit, attendees said that the dollar-based currency system amplified economic risks and that a multi-currency system would reduce costs for corporations and uncertainties in the global economic environment.

In the statement, the attendants also said that the yuan and other emerging economies’ currencies should also play a role in the multi-currency system and that expanding the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights basket could lay the foundations for it.

Korean businessmen attending the meeting also put forward ideas to benefit various industries. 

Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho, who took part in the discussions for trade and investment, suggested that a standardized international logistics system for air, sea and overland shipping would benefit the industry as well as the global economy.

Citing the example of the International Air Transport Association’s e-freight project, Cho said that standardized systems for sea and overland logistics should be developed, and that each system should be linked through international cooperation.

Started in 2004, the e-freight project seeks to simplify and standardize air freight and customs systems. Hanjin Group’s Korean Air adopted the system in 2008.

According to Cho, about 20 documents required in air freight have been replaced by electronic versions through the project, and the IATA estimates that between $3.1 billion and $4.9 billion could be saved if the system was adopted by all air transport firms.

In his speech, Cho also said that logistics costs account for a large proportion of trading costs, and argued that differences in each country’s international trading processes are giving rise to unnecessary costs.

Hanwha Group chairman Kim Seung-youn, called for a gradual abolition of fossil fuel subsidies.

“Abolishing fossil fuel subsidies are an important step in allowing later generations to inherit an environmentally friendly future, and (we) have a duty to transform a fossil fuel-dependent economy into a low-carbon society,” Kim said.

Kim also said that green growth was the motivation behind Hanwha Group’s decision to begin operations in solar power and other green technologies, and called for other businesspeople to join the drive for green growth.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)