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The Commonwealth Secretary-General, The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, joined Ministers from across the world in attending the Opening Session of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) at the WTO headquarters in Geneva on 12 June 2022. The Secretary-General attended as a special guest of the Conference Chair, Kazakhstan.
Read news - Commonwealth Secretary-General attends WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva  
Governments and the business community across the Commonwealth are set to meet for the first and largest in-person gathering at the Commonwealth Business Forum, held alongside CHOGM in Kigali later this month. Ahead of the Forum, the Commonwealth Secretary-General addressed members of the Eastern Africa Association reaffirming the Secretariat’s commitment to supporting member governments, businesses, and the people in East Africa as they unleash their full potential
Read news - Commonwealth Secretary-General hails long-lasting partnership with East Africa ahead of CHOGM
In a global economy that is becoming significantly more digital, digital trade regulation is an increasingly prominent feature of trade agreements.Digital Economy Agreements (DEAs), which foster co-operation with regard to regulating variousaspects of digital trade, typically seek to establish common rules, standards and norms to governdigital trade and to enable interoperability between the digital ecosystems of different countries.Some agreements also address issues such as data protection, privacy and storage across countries, all of which are imperative to the overall governance of cross-border digital trade flows.
Read publication - Capacity-Building in Digital Economy Agreements - The Missing Link?
Last month, the Commonwealth Trade Competitiveness team together with the Gambia’s Ministry of Trade and the Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GiEPA) held a two-day exporters’ stakeholder forum aimed at identifying the most efficient ways to ensure the successful implementation of the Gambia’s National Export Strategy (NES) for 2021-2025.
Read news - Commonwealth helps The Gambia implement National Export Strategy