Landmark events taking place this year have the potential to reshape the future of Commonwealth trade. Officials and experts will meet in South Africa to consider how international trade can be made more inclusive to support sustainable development.

The Commonwealth Trade Symposium will provide participants with a unique opportunity to share perspectives and review trade-related topics in one forum. The symposium will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa from 23-24 June 2015.

Bringing together member countries with diverse economic characteristics, the conference aims to highlight issues critical to creating a trade system that supports sustainable development. Experts will provide the latest thinking on areas such as trade challenges of developing countries, aid for trade, and engaging the private sector.

“The purpose of this conference is to support member countries to achieve their development objectives as the trade landscape evolves”, said the Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Deodat Maharaj.

Mr Maharaj added: “As the world is close to agreeing the new development targets, it is vital we take every opportunity to promote a global trade agenda which accelerates economic growth the world over. We believe that effective participation in global trade is an essential prerequisite for sustainable development. It is good for jobs, it is good for growth and good for our Commonwealth.”

“The Commonwealth has taken a leading role in promoting a rules-based, transparent, free and fair multilateral trading system.  We will continue to strengthen the trading capacity of all our member states by supporting regional trading arrangements which complement a multilateral system and by exploring the potential of intra-Commonwealth trade.”

The year 2015 is a pivotal year for development. The global trading landscape will be transformed by a number of milestone events: the post-Bali work programme; the WTO’s 10th Ministerial Meeting; the UN adoption of the new sustainable development goals, which include targets on trade; the fifth Global Aid for Trade Review; and a new international agreement on climate change.

Global trade is increasingly characterised by global and regional production networks. Research shows that less developed countries have not been able to participate in these networks in such a way that promotes sustainable inclusive growth. 

Discussions during the conference will consider how trade, a cross-cutting issue in the new development goals, can support sustainable economic growth across the Commonwealth. Participants will explore issues related to South-South trade and small states with a view to increasing participation of the South in emerging and evolving production networks.

Commonwealth Heads of Government issued a stand-alone statement on trade at their last meeting in 2013, the Kotte Statement on International Trade and Investment. They reaffirmed their commitment to a fair and transparent multilateral system while taking into account the requirements of capacity-constrained countries such as small states, least developed countries and Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Commonwealth Trade Symposium: “Shaping a Global Trade Agenda for Development”

Background

Trade policy issues have always attracted huge attention from Commonwealth Members. Commonwealth Heads in their last meeting (CHOGM) in 2013 issued a standalone statement on trade. In what has come to be known as the Kotte Statement on International Trade and Investment, Commonwealth Heads reaffirmed their strong commitment to a rules-based, transparent, free and fair multilateral trading system while taking into account the special requirements of capacity constrained countriessuch as Small States, LDCs and Sub-Saharan Africa. They also expressed their support for regional trading arrangements that complement the multilateral trading system. Amongst others, they called for increased trade capacity support, and recognised the potential for intra-Commonwealth Trade. Previously at 2005 CHOGM as well, the Heads issued the Valletta Statement on Multilateral Trade in expressing their unequivocal support for the global trading system to promote effective participation of developing countries.

The Commonwealth Trade Symposium provides a platform for officials, experts, the private sector and other stakeholders to meet and review emerging and long-standing trade related issues. Its objective is to contribute to global policy discourse by highlighting issues and perspectives that are critical in order to ensure an inclusive global trade support architecture for development. The space provided by the Commonwealth Secretariat is unique in the sense that brings together States with diverse economic characteristics thatshare a development vision, to discuss all major topical trade topicsin one forum. This should facilitate a better understanding of interlinked issues; as well as support the sharing of country perspectives on the process of achieving trade development objectives and setting global priorities. As the future challenges faced by member states must be situated within the broader context of fundamental changes taking place within the global trading landscape, 2015 is a pivotal year in view of the following major events:

• The 5th Global Aid for Trade review (30th July-2nd July 2015) with a focus on reducing trade costs for sustainable development,

• The UN adoption of the Post-2015 agenda (25-27th September 2015) and shift from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which includes trade as a cross-cutting thematic issue and a key driver of structural economic change,

• Negotiations for a new international climate change deal under the auspices of the UNFCCC,

• The Post-Bali work program will be addressed at WTO’s 10th Ministerial Meeting, to be held in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Symposium will enable officials and other stakeholders to evaluate current processes and developments, and where appropriate, help prepare and adapt in the run up to these events. It will also help stakeholders prepare for further engagements on trade and development issues by identifying gaps and deficits in global support architecture and coming up with ways and means of dealing with them.