B-Team – OGP Partnership

Remarks by Sanjay Pradhan at the 2017 Concordia Summit, Septeber 19, 2017

We are very excited about this OGP-BTeam partnership.

In a world beset with crises of trust, closing civic space and rising authoritarianism, the 75-country Open Government Partnership can be a countervailing force to rebuild trust. A countervailing force of reformers from government, civil society and the private sector co-creating actions to open government. In this, the private sector is a vital partner and beneficiary.

The business case is clear. In South Korea transparent e-procurement generated $6.6 billion in efficiencies for businesses. When Ukraine disclosed all contracts in open data standards, there was a 50% increase in companies including SMEs bidding for contracts, building business and citizen trust in government. Post Panama Papers, OGP countries like UK, France, Kenya and Nigeria are leveling the playing field by disclosing who really owns companies. The McKinsey Institute estimates that open data can unlock $1.1 trillion a year in economic value.

The private sector, in turn, can be a vital coalition partner to advocate for open government, such as the Makati Business Club which partnered with government reformers to improve the Philippines’ ease of doing business ranking by 40% resulting in a 66% jump in FDI and the country’s first investment grade rating in 2014.

This is the new social compact, collaboration and trust between business leaders, government and civil society that OGP can help deliver. OGP provides a thriving global platform and we invite businesses to vibrantly engage with to rebuild trust.

Today we launch our flagship publication, “Trust – The Fight to Win It Back” which is available on the Concordia app and on our website, and that several business leaders here including Paul Polman, Bob Collymore and Sharan Burrow have contributed to. That is the promise of this OGP-B Team partnership.