Business News
Commonwealth Chamber turns attention to Malta and Bangladesh
The new Commonwealth Chamber division has launched a series of marketing briefings and the first of these will focus on trading with Malta and Bangladesh. The first event, on 13 June, will
feature Malta, which is located in the Mediterranean and is just 50 miles south of Italy. Best known to most people as a
holiday destination, Malta has traditionally been a significant naval base and has been ruled by a succession of powers, ranging from the Phoenicians to the Knights of St John. Malta was latterly a British
colony until 1964, when it became an independent country, and joined the European Union in 2004. Despite its small size, Malta is
classed as an advanced economy by the International Monetary Fund. It has a population of 445,000, and a gross domestic product of $18bn. Tourism is a key industry, with
some 1.6 million visitors being attracted each year, and also of importance, rather surprisingly, is the film industry. The other industry of significance is science and technology, with Malta a partner in projects being conducted by the European Space Agency. The second marketing briefing is
Bangladesh, and this event will be held on 25 June in partnership with the Bangladeshi High Commission. Bangladesh is the eighth most populous country in the world, with around 163 million residents. Its capital is Dhaka, and was part of British India. It then became part of Pakistan,
until gaining full independence in 1971. The country is regarded as a developing nation, and is 46th in the world in terms of GDP. For the first two decades after independence, the country pursued socialist policies, but since then economic liberalisation has seen the growth of the private sector. Key industries include textiles, pharmaceuticals, electronics and food processing, but the county also has heavy industry in the form of shipbuilding and steel. Agriculture is the largest sector of the economy, employing around half the workforce. The UK is the third largest export
destination of Bangladesh and the country historically maintains positive trade balance with it. The Commonwealth Chamber offers a membership-based
Trading with Malta and Bangladesh
Time: 09:00-11:30 Date:
13 June (Malta) and 25 June (Bangladesh)
Venue: Chamber House, 75 Harborne Road, Edgbaston
Division:Commonwealth General Price Member Price: Free Future Faces Members: Free Non-Member Price: Free
Other briefings in this series will include Pakistan, in particular the city of Rawalpindi. See page 31 for more stories on Commonwealth Chamber.
“We focus particularity in this
article on Malta and Bangladesh. In the case of Malta, it is of course both an EU member and a Commonwealth nation and, as such, provides a great gateway to the EU post Brexit. “Both the UK and Malta have
services at the heart of their economies although trade in goods also features with more than three- quarters of Malta’s automotive industry exports coming to the UK whilst 40 per cent of Malta’s wood, paper and forestry imports come from Britain. “Looking at Bangladesh, it is
Keith Stokes-Smith: Time to focus on the Commonwealth
‘There is demand for both our products and services and if we, the UK, are not quick enough to respond to that demand, other nations will’
international gateway for firms wishing to develop bilateral trade opportunities in Commonwealth countries. The new trade initiative is designed to help members develop trade links with Commonwealth countries and includes a major events programme focusing on Commonwealth knowledge transfer and trading opportunities. Commonwealth Chamber
president Keith Stokes-Smith said: “There is no doubt whatsoever that bi-lateral trade opportunities with many of the Commonwealth countries has not had the focus it should have done for a number of
decades notwithstanding those opportunities have only got more numerous over this period. “There is demand for both our
products and services and if we, the UK, are not quick enough to respond to that demand, other nations will. From the exporter point of view, with the lower pound, things could not be better. “Add to that the ‘commonwealth
advantage’, i.e overhead costs of doing business are reduced by up to 15 per cent in comparison to trade outside the Commonwealth due to shared history and commonalities of language, law and business practice.
certain up there with a handful of other commonwealth nations as an emerging economy offering significant potential to become a key trading partner. Historically, the UK service sector has done well in Bangladesh although today there are bi-lateral opportunities in education and training, energy, environment and water, information and communication technology and biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. “The Commonwealth is a vibrant,
impressive institution, with 2.1 billion people and enormous potential. I invite you to come and learn about these opportunities, both importing and exporting, in more detail and if new to exporting, colleagues from the Department of International Trade will be there to assist you throughout the whole process.”
To find out more about the Commonwealth Chamber, email GBCCC@birmingham-
chamber.com
June 2018 CHAMBERLINK 11
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