Increasing trade and investment

Secretary-General Don McKinnon has said that societies will achieve their full potential by going beyond economics and embracing democracy.

“Transformed societies are societies in which all people understand and support what is happening and why; and in which everyone plays a part and everyone benefits – individually and collectively. In short, transformation must be democratic,” he observed.

Speaking at the opening of the Commonwealth Business Forum in Kampala, Uganda on 20 November 2007, Mr McKinnon added that “the ingredients of economic development and broader transformation only take on real shape when they are democratic.”

At the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta in 2005, member countries urged the Commonwealth to “stimulate growth” by lobbying for a global trading system that would benefit poorer countries and by maximising the benefits of trade within the Commonwealth.

Mr McKinnon said that while the Commonwealth gave its full backing to negotiate for better terms for poorer countries in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round, at the moment it appears to be stuck in “the slow lane”.

“Too many are thinking globally at the WTO but acting nationally at home and in their delegations in Geneva,” he said.

The Commonwealth will continue to support the Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and the African-Caribbean–Pacific countries by helping to “co-ordinate and offer options” on the “negotiating stances” of these countries, Mr McKinnon noted.

He then warned that ‘intra-trade’ in the Commonwealth should not come at the expense of global trade – beyond the Commonwealth’s borders - but should be promoted in tandem.

“We should continue to promote trade between ourselves, within the context of trade beyond our borders. Indeed, by promoting it between ourselves, we will be in better shape to promote it beyond.”

Mohan Kaul, President of the Commonwealth Business Council, assured the Forum that negotiations are still ongoing with the WTO and said he was confident poorer countries would soon be able to have access to bigger markets.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in his opening speech argued that it is not enough for poorer countries to access western markets under the WTO. What is important, he said, is for poorer countries to be able to add value to their products in order to be more competitive on the world market.

Over 1,100 delegates are attending the Commonwealth Business Forum at the Kampala Sheraton Hotel. Discussions will centre on a number of issues that affect business and development within the Commonwealth as well as addressing the ‘Untapped Potential of the Commonwealth’, which is the theme of this year's Forum.

Click here for the full text of the Secretary-General's speech

Key Links:

• Economics
• Democracy
• Country Profile: Uganda