Latest content: Economic development

The Global Forum now has 137 members on equal footing and is the premier international body for ensuring the implementation of the internationally agreed standards of transparency and exchange of information in the tax area.

A free trade agreement between the UK and India would increase trade between the countries by 25 per cent, new research undertaken by the Commonwealth shows.

The Commonwealth Secretariat is helping the Swaziland government draft legislation and design its fiscal regime to enhance revenues, support local industry and boost regulation in the sector.

Sri Lanka has been experiencing a declining trend in exports for the last three years. What’s more, the country’s export basket continues to concentrate on a limited number of products and to limited markets.

Toronto, Canada 1984: Commonwealth finance ministers warned of the dangers posed by rising interest rates to highly indebted developing countries at a major summit.

On 17 October 2016, a report by the Natural Resource Governance Institute, entitled ‘Preventing Tax Base Erosion in Africa: a Regional Study of Transfer Pricing Challenges in the Mining Sector’ received its London launch at Marlborough House.

Botswana has launched a new scheme to boost its economy. The new ‘Aid for Trade’ strategy outlines ways to diversify exports and drive the nation’s economic growth.

Both the president and the prime minister of Sri Lanka took part in the launch of the Colombo Declaration to ensure better health across the Commonwealth.

Central bank governors have been hearing about the risks Brexit and de-risking poses for Commonwealth countries. They were told that the jury was still out on how Britain's exit from the European Union would affect trade, remittances, aid and investment in the Commonwealth.

Countries significantly impacted by extreme weather should have a repayment holiday on government loans and bonds, a Commonwealth report has recommended.

New research published today by the Commonwealth Secretariat calls for “fundamental changes” to the way the world’s oceans, seas and coastal areas are managed.

We are ready to support countries through tough post-Brexit trade negotiations, Secretary-General Patricia Scotland will tell Commonwealth finance ministers next week.

Recent developments in the global trading landscape have the potential to adversely affect the least developed countries and undermine the aspirations of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), as discussed at a panel session organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat at the World Trade Organization’s Public Forum in Geneva this week. ‘Inclusive Trade’ was the theme of this year’s conference – echoing the Commonwealth Secretariat’s approach promoting trade equality.

Finance ministers, central bank governors and the Secretary-General will be in the American capital this week to respond to the biggest financial challenges facing Commonwealth countries.

Vulnerable small island states and developing countries stand to gain access to billions of dollars of climate finance with the aid of a new Commonwealth initiative.

The Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has welcomed plans to try to end the irregular migration of people across the world.

The Secretary-General has been meeting the Bangladeshi prime minister, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, at the United Nations in New York to discuss a variety of challenges facing the Commonwealth.

Secretary-General Patricia Scotland last week urged UK companies to seize fresh opportunities to do business within the Commonwealth.

The Secretary-General has told BBC News that Commonwealth ministers and parliamentarians have asked her to help them respond to the crisis of irregular mass movement of people across the world by coming up with a plan.

The Commonwealth will help its members recover from shock and adjust to the UK's decision to withdraw from the European Union, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland told Sky News today.

For the countries of the Caribbean, the sea is much more than a place for leisure and relaxation. The sea is literally the lifeblood of their economies, supporting the transportation of goods and people through shipping, providing food from fisheries and underpinning the most important economic activity in the region: tourism.

Plans for a first national inquiry into violence in Samoa were discussed by the country’s National Human Rights Institution, the Office of the Ombudsman at this week’s Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers meeting in Apia.

Key industries in some Commonwealth nations could take massive hits if appropriate steps aren’t taken following the UK’s departure from the EU. The forecast over so-called Brexit comes from policy experts’ analysis in two new research papers published by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Passions ran high as money transfer businesses and smaller financial institutions met yesterday at the Commonwealth Secretariat to address a “detrimental” decline in international banking for many businesses and individuals.