VIEW FROM THE CHAIR
OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH ENTERPRISE: SECURING AN ECONOMIC FUTURE FOR ALL
Over the last few years I have been greatly heartened to see the renewal of focus and energy given to the unique Commonwealth family of nations. The annual celebration of Commonwealth Day on 11 March is a chance to reflect on this renewal and look to the future of organizations like the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). In all the comment, praise and constructive criticism made of the Commonwealth, from the recommendations of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group to the several academic critiques of the Commonwealth Advisory Bureau, I am delighted with the consistent theme of the Commonwealth’s key strength: the vast and rich diversity of its membership and citizenship. Nowhere is this more evident than in this year’s
choice of Commonwealth theme “Opportunities Through Enterprise”, launched on Commonwealth Day. This year’s theme celebrates the Commonwealth’s vast human potential and, as Commonwealth Secretary-General H.E. Kamalesh Sharma has put it, “the ways in which talent and innovation can be supported and put to the best use possible”. With a collective population of two billion citizens, or approximately one-third of the world’s population, and with over half of these under the age of 25, the Commonwealth is unique among global fora. Its membership equally represents countries with booming economic growth, economies dominated by agriculture, small island nations whose very existence is threatened by climate change, as well as some of the poorest countries in the world; countries as different as Antigua and Barbuda and Zambia with over 50 in between.
Universal access to education to as high a level as possible must be a priority
for all governments, as must seeking solutions to youth unemployment and lack of engagement in the political process. The 2013 theme also urges us all to look around at new avenues for
investment and growth. The Commonwealth links some of the world’s fastest- growing, most resource-rich economies including Papua New Guinea, Zambia, Ghana, Mozambique and India, as well as several others that have emerged from the global crisis relatively unscathed – Australia, Singapore and Canada spring to
6 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue One
mind. Furthermore, similarities in legal systems governing contracts and shared language make doing business with these countries far cheaper than with many others.
What I feel to be great cause for optimism does not
mean that the member states of the Commonwealth have no obstacles in the way of progress and development. To highlight but one example of the challenges faced by the Commonwealth’s member states, we can look at its large number of small island nations, in particular in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific. Although hugely geographically and culturally different,
Rt Hon. Sir Alan Haselhurst, MP
Chairperson of the CPA Executive Committee
almost all these countries are particularly at risk from climate change and associated rising sea levels; they have economies highly dependent on tourism, the financial services and fisheries; and they are suffering the effects of high levels of emigration, in particular as their young people leave to chase broader horizons. For these countries, diversification of their economies is an obvious priority, but far more easily identified than achieved. That said, I take pleasure from the development that one of them, St Helena, is at last to have an airport.
With its specific mention of “enterprise”, the theme also directs us to examine
economic engagement at all levels of society, and in particular the importance of microenterprise. Microenterprise is a crucial factor in bottom-up economic development and sustainable, inclusive growth. In particular, it is a means of giving women the opportunity for economic empowerment and involvement in economic decision-making at a local level. This in turn advances gender equality and social justice, which is a contributing factor to sustainable and equitable development. I warmly welcome this year’s theme and celebrate all it implies: fostering
the talent of the next generation, creating closer economic links between Commonwealth member states, broadening economic engagement throughout all sectors of society and furthering progress towards the goal of equality of opportunity. I very much hope that you, my Commonwealth colleagues, will join me in applauding this as a statement of some of our joint aspirations for 2013 and the CPA’s efforts to promote and achieve these.
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