Building Global Partnerships: Commonwealth, Europe And Mediterranean Countries

"Of course the most immediate and urgent challenge of multilateralism is the successful conclusion of the Doha 'development round' of trade negotiations." Dr Michael Frendo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Malta

The minister was speaking at the plenary session, 'Building Global Partnerships: Commonwealth, Europe and Mediterranean Countries', during the Commonwealth Business Forum on Tuesday, 22 November 2005, ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting from 25 to 27 November in the capital of Malta, Valletta.

"Partnerships must be one of the ways that will help us face the challenges of globalisation. The key features of globalisation have been rapid technological advances coupled with trade and financial liberalisation," Dr Frendo said.

He noted that the world has become one large trading system, with a number of countries across the globe interlinked.

According to Dr Frendo, the creation of partnerships between the Commonwealth, Europe and the Mediterranean will involve forming linkages between a huge diversity of social systems and business cultures that stretch over half the countries of the world.

Looking at the Commonwealth, he said, Australia, Canada and New Zealand have a comparative advantage in the production and export of agricultural and other raw materials, while Bangladesh, Pakistan and others have abundant and consequent low-cost supply of labour, which gives them an advantage in the production of labour-intensive goods such as textiles and clothing. He added that India, the Commonwealth country with the largest population, also has an advantage in the production and export of labour-intensive products.

"This same country, in these last years has also specialised in information and communication technology, and established significant corporations in fields as diverse as pharmaceutics and electrical engineering."

He stated that many countries in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean have put their climatic, scenic and cultural assets to good use and built a vibrant tourism industry. Other countries export raw materials they produce, giving them a clear advantage in concentrating on processing materials to increase the value of exports generated in their own country.

"If we focus on Europe, one significant statistic that immediately commands our attention is that this continent produces about one-fourth of total world production of goods and services. If we look at the Mediterranean where the Northern shores belong to Europe while the Southern shore is African and Middle East, both share broadly similar climates and have specialised in what is known as 'Mediterranean' agricultural products. Some countries of the Southern shore are also blessed with much sought after mineral products that yield excellent profits -- in particular oil and natural gas. Others have an advantage in the abundant supply of labour.

"So the question arises: What sort of global partnerships can one build with all these countries? In my view the best partnership must be based on a multilateral approach to economic development."

But, Dr Frendo cautioned that while this is the case, the most immediate and urgent challenge of multilateralism is the successful conclusion of the Doha 'development round' of trade negotiations.

"The second, longer term challenge is to prime the world and regional development banks to focus more narrowly, but deeply, on the countries that on their own may not be attractive to private capital. There is no lack of capital in the world at large. There are many developing countries which can finance their own development, whether the oil-exporting countries or the new and hugely successful exporters of manufactured goods. On the other hand, other developing countries need the intervention of international development institutions and the support of Commonwealth and Mediterranean countries."

Key Links:

• Partnerships: Commonwealth, Europe and the Mediterranean Countries - Speech delivered by the Hon. Dr Michael Frendo, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malta

Related News:

• CHOGM 2005.MT