Latest content: Economic development

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.

This week the Commonwealth is convening a meeting of banks, financial gurus and global regulators to explore its report on solutions to a problem that is threatening development in vulnerable economies.

How do small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the global south find the financing they need to export more goods and services? That’s the tough question the Commonwealth, in partnership with the investment firm GBS Africa put to a panel of experts.

The Commonwealth will offer strength, stability, solidarity and practical assistance to its member states and in particular will advocate for small and vulnerable economies the Commonwealth Secretary-General pledged yesterday at the CARICOM conference.

The Hub and Spokes II Programme enhances trade capacity in the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions by placing trade advisers in national ministries and Regional Economic Communities (RECs).

Climate change, indebtedness, protecting migrant remittances and banking systems, and the consequences of Britain’s exit from the EU on small and vulnerable economies are priority concerns for the Secretary-General at CARICOM Conference.

Senior officials from 18 Commonwealth small states and overseas territories expressed broad support for global efforts to promote greater international tax transparency, during a Commonwealth International Tax Roundtable in London hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Small and medium enterprises in India stand to gain from enhanced trade links with emerging markets across the globe, through a new Commonwealth business association launched today in New Delhi.

Barbados MP Donville Inniss has praised the Commonwealth Secretariat for its leadership on key issues affecting the Caribbean such as international tax and financial regulations.

Small Commonwealth countries and jurisdictions need an evidenced-based approach to understand the impact of international tax policies on institutions that offer financial services to overseas clients, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said today.

On 20-21 June, the Commonwealth International Tax Roundtable in London will bring together countries that host International Financial Centres (IFCs). IFCs offer overseas clients services such as international banking, investment management and insurance.

The Government of India is giving Commonwealth citizens the opportunity to attend fully-funded training courses across a range of areas, including rural development, IT, telecommunications and renewable energy, in association with the Commonwealth Secretariat.