CREATING A MORE PROSPEROUS COMMONWEALTH IN BUSINESS
to reach UK and Singaporean levels of trade facilitation. The Business Forum also welcomed the suggestion of a standalone meeting of Commonwealth Trade Ministers to focus on these issues. The Commonwealth Business Forum focused on the following themes of relevance to all Commonwealth countries: • Financial Services: A Commonwealth wide financial services programme, in partnership with the City of London Corporation and corporate partners, was launched to focus on the development of financial centres, skills development, innovation in financial services, Islamic Finance and access to finance.
• Technology: Recognising the importance of technology as a driver of future economic growth and prosperity, a CWIEC technology programme was launched, in partnership with Tech City UK, to establish the ecosystem for technology based companies in member countries to flourish with an initial focus on the important areas of EdTech, FinTech, Smart Cities, e-Government, Open Data and Innovation.
• Infrastructure: The Business Forum made considerable progress towards identifying an agenda for helping countries to plan, access funding and build major infrastructure projects – vital for future economic development.
• Healthcare: The Business Forum saw the launch of the Commonwealth Healthcare Business Group which will bring together complementary public, private and third sector expertise to help facilitate Commonwealth Governments in improving health provision and outcomes.
• Tourism: Tourism was identified as a key driver
of economic growth in all Commonwealth countries. Discussions focused on adding value in tourism and also the importance of being able to measure the impact of tourism.
• Sustainability: Discussions focused on the private sector’s role in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals and facilitating finance for sustainable infrastructure and investment projects. There was a strong focus on The Blue Economy and infrastructure for Island States at the Forum.
• Maritime: For the first time a special session was held on the ‘The Maritime Commonwealth’.
Outcomes
The Commonwealth Business Forum saw the launch of a number of major projects and initiatives including: • Commonwealth Green Finance Facility: The Facility will improve the bankability of green projects in Commonwealth countries by providing risk cover and credit enhancement in particular for the Island States. It would be capitalised initially through sovereign contributions and support and then subsequently by issuing ‘Green Bonds’ in order to attract the participation of institutional investors. Its initial size would be $1 billion, with further capitalisation over time.
• The Global Goals Commonwealth Sustainable Business Challenge: The Challenge aims to encourage all companies across the Commonwealth and beyond to consider how they can engage with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how they build them into their strategy and the way they do business.
• Commonwealth Trade Initiative: The Business
Forum welcomed a presentation on the Commonwealth Trade Initiative, an online business collaboration platform launched with the support of AMPP Group, and recognised its potential for maintaining and creating new business connections between Business Forums.
• Commonwealth First: The CWEIC announced it was launching a major new programme with the support of Royal Mail to encourage SMEs to leverage the Commonwealth network when starting their export journey. The programme will be initially piloted with 100 specially selected UK SMEs over a three year period. In due course it is hoped the programme will be established in other Commonwealth countries.
A major feature of the Commonwealth Business Forum is the strong opportunity for networking and trade and investment deals. More than 300 pre-arranged one to one meetings were held at the Forum with countless other interactions taking place, as well as 17 country and regional investment windows held during the Forum. Following the Commonwealth Business Forum, a number of major priorities were identified and the CWEIC will be helping Commonwealth countries
to improve the business environment, through a focus on public private sector dialogue, accreditation and standards, improved corporate governance and an anti-corruption programme. One of the key challenges faced by business leaders in travelling across the Commonwealth was highlighted and the CWEIC expressed its strong desire for political leadership to allow business people to travel and work more easily within the Commonwealth and the possibility of establishing an APEC style Business Travel Card for the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth Business Forum was a key opportunity for collaboration within the Commonwealth to focus on developing intra-Commonwealth trade and investment and on youth entrepreneurship. Over the next two years, the CWEIC will be establishing regional offices across the Commonwealth. An on the ground presence will help us be more relevant and do more for both our member companies and supporting Governments and we look forward to
reconvening the Commonwealth Business Forum for the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London.
The Commonwealth Business Forum 2015 took place from 24 to 26 November 2015 in Malta. Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council
www.cweic.org
The Parliamentarian | 2016: Issue One | 47
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