Business News President’s Focus
The Greater Birmingham Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce is continuing to grow, having just recruited its 100th member. Here, Commonwealth Chamber president Keith Stokes-Smith assesses three major factors in driving bilateral trade between Greater Birmingham and the Commonwealth. He says Brexit, the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the potential of many of the Commonwealth nations present huge opportunities.
Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce and hence my presidency of this new and exciting Chamber. Was Brexit an influencing factor in its
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establishment? Was the Commonwealth Games coming to Birmingham in 2022 a factor? Was the great potential many of the Commonwealth nations, then presented for bi-lateral trade and still do, a factor? Well, it all seemed pretty black and white
back in June 2016 if Brexit was a key reason. The United Kingdom voted to leave the EU and with that, as did before the vote, came the suggestion from a number of government sources that we would thereafter expand trade with our Commonwealth colleagues - not, I suspect, that this suggestion featured that high up in the minds of many Brexiteers when they voted. I suspect in fact the Government has subsequently been accused of pursuing a ‘fool’s errand’ through efforts to replace lost trade with the European Union after Brexit with deals with Commonwealth countries. Did or does the UK really need to leave the EU in order to do more trade with the Commonwealth? Time will tell.
‘It is not just about successfully bidding for contracts at our home games. It is also about capitalising on that success overseas’
So, factor two, the 2022 Commonwealth
Games coming to the UK and, most importantly, to Birmingham and its surrounding towns and cities. A bonanza for the local economy. Last April, I attended the Gold Coast
Commonwealth Games where I spoke at a gathering of businesses about the Birmingham Games. I was approached by Queensland businesses and indeed some from the UK looking to bid for our 2022 procurement opportunities. Eighteen months on and the Aussies are here in the UK today looking to replicate in Birmingham their successful contribution to the Queensland games. Good luck to them. We should be doing the same at the 2026 games and beyond. It is not just about successfully bidding for contracts at our home games. It is also about capitalising on that success overseas. Even without the aforesaid, regardless of
Brexit and the 2022 games, there always was no excuse for us to ignore the Commonwealth to the extent we have when it comes to trade and, as I have said before, more so today with the great potential a number of emerging
10 CHAMBERLINK September 2019
t is now 18 months since the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce launched the Greater Birmingham
Greater Birmingham
Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce
Commonwealth markets offer (an emerging market is a country that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not satisfy standards to be termed a developed market). India is a good example of an emerging market. I do wonder whether UK business suffers from
a ‘perception and awareness problem’ when it comes to Commonwealth trade. The Commonwealth Chamber aims to address this by showing business what market opportunities are out there, by incentivising business, by assisting with red tape and intellectual property issues and directing business to the often free help and advice which is already available. The establishment of the Commonwealth
Chamber, built upon Birmingham’s then already sound Commonwealth foundations. Good call GBCC. Its existence makes Commonwealth trade more possible, more visible, opens doors to new opportunities, stimulates motivation, enables us to influence things and more positively and crucially, deliver positive outcomes for our members, sponsors and the wider community. We have just passed our 100 member target -
a milestone by any measure, and are lining ourselves up to deliver even more for our members. Watch this space.
• See page 41 for more Commonwealth Chamber news
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