Brexit, an opportunity for more trade and investment

Commonwealth trade and investment ministers concluded their two-day meeting in London with a commitment to make full use of the ‘Commonwealth advantage’ to boost trade within the 52-member bloc.

Ministers and representatives from more than 35 countries including Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama and Industry and Commerce Minister, Rishard Bathiudeen attended the meeting, jointly convened by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council.

The Ministers acknowledged that Brexit provides opportunities for broader cooperation on trade and investment between Commonwealth countries and committed to examining specific recommendations for practical initiatives that can be recommended to the next Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in 2018.

“There is a 19% trade advantage within the Commonwealth. We must see how the global trade landscape can be changed in favour of that advantage and the particular factors that drive and differentiate intra-Commonwealth trade and investment be improved,” Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said.

“Intra-Commonwealth trade has never been more important. We all know that we’ve been living in troubled times and together we will have to look very carefully at what advantages there are within our family.”

At the meeting, ministers focused on opportunities for the Commonwealth to strengthen collaboration by promoting intra-Commonwealth trade and investment flows. They identified key challenges hindering trade competitiveness and discussed how to overcome them through mutual support. Ministers underscored the importance of building a global economy that benefits all of the Commonwealth’s 2.4 billion citizens, noting that developing countries need an enabling global trading environment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Ministers also noted the important role of the private sector in facilitating trade and investment.

They welcomed Commonwealth initiatives to forge business to business links and pledged to continue to engage with the private sector in a pan-Commonwealth setting.