Speaking ahead of the G20 summit in Brisbane, Walsh said the said the interconnected nature of the world meant shared economic growth was more important to governments and business than ever before.

He called for the removal of trade and investment barriers, labelling them “fetters” and calling for a “move to a world where borders are not barriers to capital, expertise and entrepreneurial activity”

Walsh said a lack of infrastructure and corruption were holding growth back in developing nations, and called on the G20 to lead from the front on these issues.

“When you are investing tens of billions of dollars on behalf of shareholders, on timeframes of three or four or more decades, stable and low risk are extremely persuasive adjectives,” he said.

Walsh said the ‘infrastructure hub’, a G20 agenda item which would allow governments and the private sector to contribute expertise and investment capital to get critical infrastructure built around the world, was an exciting development.

He also praised the G20’s target of a 2% worldwide growth increase over the next five years.

On corruption, Walsh called for greater examples transparency in business and government to set a standard for the world to follow.

“(Corruption) is a scourge to the free and fair operation of markets, a destroyer of the benefits of competition, blight on governments and a source of great injustice and criminality,” he said.

“Rio Tinto has adopted a policy of complete transparency in all our tax affairs. We publish an annual ‘taxes paid’ report detailing all taxes we have paid in every country in which we operate.

“We do this because we believe in transparency as a principle, but also because the more such practice is adopted worldwide, the more opportunities for corruption are reduced in countries with poorly developed governance structures.”

The G20 Leaders’ Summit begins today in Brisbane.