Finance, Capital Markets and Trade Research

International Finance and Capital Markets

The unifying focus of our work is supporting prosperity by promoting economic growth and opportunity in Commonwealth countries.

Within this there are two broad pillars to our work:

• promoting access to finance at all levels of society and developing, and

• advocating policy for member countries in the international system.

We undertake work in member countries to promote financial literacy, especially amongst the young. This includes the design and conduct of training and the development of educational material.

We also identify activities aimed at overcoming barriers to investment in areas neglected by the international community. This has led to a particular focus on the needs of small and medium sized enterprises and – at the national level - addressing the challenges faced by especially the smallest countries in attracting investment. This has been supported through the Commonwealth Private Investment Initiative which has led to a total of $800m being invested in Commonwealth countries.

There are three broad areas to our work on international policy:

• support to the member countries in particular areas of international policy. These include: the design and implementation of international anti money laundering, countering terrorist financing regulations and discussions of international tax practices.

• assistance for members in engaging in international forums – examples include workshops on ways to deliver aid in developing countries.

• advocacy for changing policy in the international system.

International Trade - research and analysis

We undertake policy-oriented research and analysis on international trade and development issues and provide informed inputs into the related discourses involving Commonwealth countries.

Our approach is to scan the trade and development landscape for areas where unorthodox approaches are ineffective or where there are public policy failures or gaps, and to seek new approaches to address those.

Our work plan is flexible which allows us to respond quickly to emerging issues in the international trading environment that impact particularly on two highly vulnerable Commonwealth constituencies – least developed countries and small states.

We conduct activities principally in three broad areas:

• Supporting Commonwealth developing members in their negotiation of multilateral and regional trade agreements that promote positive outcomes for developing countries, notably their economic growth through expanded trade.

• Conducting research and consultations that increase understanding of the changing of the international trading environment and of policy options for successful adaptation.

• Supporting advocacy and consensus building that advances the more beneficial participation of Commonwealth developing countries, particularly small states and least developed countries in the multilateral trading system.