The B20

The B20 is the business engagement group of the G20 — the most established of the official outreach tracks. Each year the country holding the G20 presidency appoints a national business organisation to run it, which convenes task forces of executives, trade bodies and industry associations from across the membership.

Those task forces spend the year producing policy recommendations, which are formally handed to the G20 presidency ahead of the leaders' summit. The recommendations are not binding. Their influence comes from the fact that they arrive early, carry the signatures of companies that employ millions of people, and speak to the parts of the agenda — trade facilitation, digital rules, energy, finance for growth — where governments most need the private sector to move with them.

The useful way to read the B20 is as a filter. Far more is proposed than survives. What matters is which recommendations make it into the sherpa process intact.

Dates

9–11 November 2026

Venue

The Wharf, Southwest Washington, D.C.

Host

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Co-chairs

Suzanne P. Clark and Ross Perot Jr.

B20 Sherpa

Kevin Brady

Reach

Companies representing roughly 75% of global trade

Leaders’ summit

G20 Miami, 14–15 December 2026

The U.S. Chamber describes the B20 as the G20’s private sector engagement forum, and the Washington summit as “the culmination of a year-long series of convenings designed to forge and strengthen relationships that drive growth” — a forum where global business leaders “engage directly with decision-makers to shape policy and advance deals and investment.” Attendance is by invitation, requested through the Chamber’s events portal.

Tier	Organisations
Corporate partners	Visa · Mastercard · Hillwood · Kalshi · S&P Global · Citadel · Amazon · GE Vernova · Bayer · Infosys · Bristol Myers Squibb
Knowledge partner	Boston Consulting Group
Media partner	Politico
Network partners	OECD · International Chamber of Commerce · Meridian International Center, among others

Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce — B20 Summit 2026. Partner rosters change through the year; confirm before publication.

Stage	What happens
1. Task forces convene	The host business organisation appoints task forces by theme — trade and investment, energy, digital, finance, integrity and compliance.
2. Drafting	Members negotiate language across markets and sectors. Most of the year's work happens here, out of public view.
3. Handover	Recommendations are formally presented to the G20 presidency at the B20 summit.
4. Sherpa track	Government sherpas decide what survives into the negotiating text. Most does not.
5. Leaders' declaration	What remains appears — usually compressed to a clause — in the communiqué at the leaders' summit.

The B20 sits alongside a family of official G20 engagement groups, each representing a constituency: W20 (women), L20 (labour), C20 (civil society), T20 (think tanks), Y20 (youth), S20 (science) and U20 (urban). Group of Nations covers the W20 and G20 YEA alongside its principal summit titles.

Group of Nations has published the official G20 and B20 global briefing reviews across successive presidencies, including the Brazilian and South African cycles.

View the publications