Latest content: Trade and economy

This paper supplements the Commonwealth Model Mining Feasibility Study Guidelines by providing the conceptual underpinnings and governance frameworks required for their consistent interpretation and use.

These model guidelines set out how governments can use feasibility studies to ensure that mining projects are responsibly planned and sustainably managed, and provide community benefits and investor confidence.

This report provides a comprehensive assessment of trade-related regulatory frameworks – covering both conventional and digital domains – across seven Indo-Pacific economies: Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Fiji and Samoa. The analysis focuses on identifying regulatory inconsistencies, non-tariff barriers and institutional gaps that hinder cross-border trade, with the objective of informing a phased roadmap towards regulatory coherence and regional economic integration.

The Commonwealth Model Law on Digital Trade offers transformative benefits for governments, businesses and consumers across member countries.

By providing legal certainty for electronic communications, records, signatures and contracts, the law eliminates long-standing barriers that have limited the adoption of paperless trade. Its implementation enables faster, more efficient transactions, reducing delays and administrative burdens, and improving overall trade performance.