Latest content: Trade and economy

The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12), to be held from 30 November to 3 December,

Senior trade officials from Commonwealth Small States last week concluded a three-day virtual workshop to prepare for the World Trade Organization’s forthcoming Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12).

After three years in the making, last week the Commonwealth Secretariat launched its new Voluntary Information and Price-Sharing database (VIPSD). One-third of the world’s population lacks access to essential medicines, with most of them living in poor countries, while rising prices of new drugs are becoming a challenge in wealthy states. And, since the global Covid-19 pandemic, the urgent need for essential medicines has intensified.

At their annual meeting, Commonwealth Finance Ministers were urged to take action to change the current development finance architecture, enhance access to finance for countries vulnerable to climate change and address debt sustainability.

Commonwealth countries are estimated to have lost up to US$345 billion worth of trade in 2020, including $60 billion in intra-Commonwealth trade, according to 2021 Commonwealth Trade Review on “Energising Commonwealth Trade in a Digital World: Paths to Recovery Post-COVID”.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has welcomed the historic appointment of former Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to head the World Trade Organization, the first woman and representative of the African continent to do so.

Gambian President Adama Barrow has told the Commonwealth Secretary-General that his country is “happy to be back” in the family. The Secretary-General is in The Gambia for her first official visit since the country re-joined the Commonwealth in 2018 - almost five years after leaving the association. She commented: “President Barrow’s words are a testimony to the longstanding partnership between The Gambia and the Commonwealth."

Annual transfers of money by foreign migrant workers to their home countries play a huge role in many countries. These remittances provide income support for family members back home and, in some cases, provide funding for start-ups. Remittances are also a source of foreign exchange reserves for developing countries and they help contain trade balances and widen the revenue base through increased consumption

Trade ministers and business leaders from across the Commonwealth will gather virtually to examine how they can work together to spur a digitally-inclusive and green recovery in the face of devastating economic impacts linked to COVID-19.

More than 90 government officials from 11 nations have gained new skills that will help them make sound decisions on petroleum field development plans submitted by oil companies, to ensure they promote sustainable development.

Pacific Trade officials have wrapped up a two-day virtual workshop on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement aimed at reinvigorating intra-regional and global trade post Covid-19.

The Commonwealth Secretariat and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) have joined forces to create a pioneering resource to support countries facing tough decisions on public debt. 

In Africa, micro, small and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) in the informal economy are particularly vulnerable to economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.