- Prime Minister announces UK intention to transform trade with
the fast-growing economies of the Commonwealth as CHOGM gets
underway
- PM will launch plans for landmark Developing Countries
Trading Scheme as well as new Platinum Partnership trade
alliances and financial Centres of Expertise
- Investment highlights include new £124m UK Export Finance
loan to help British businesses improve healthcare in Guyana and
UK health tech export wins worth almost £40m in India
The Prime Minister will announce a raft of new trade and
investment initiatives to create jobs, growth and shared
prosperity across the Commonwealth, as he arrives in Rwanda today
[Thursday] for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
(CHOGM).
The Commonwealth brings together a third of the world’s
population, including some of its fastest-growing economies and
cities. Investment is already 27 percent higher between
Commonwealth countries and bilateral trading costs are on average
a fifth lower due to shared language and legal and economic
systems – known as the ‘Commonwealth Advantage’.
Today’s announcements aim to capitalise on this unique union,
supporting economic development overseas while fostering new
markets for British expertise and exports.
The Prime Minister will drive this agenda forward when he meets
innovative UK companies like Bboxx and Ampersand at the
Commonwealth Business Forum in Kigali later today, as well as
holding meetings on the UK-backed African Continental Free Trade
Agreement and future of sustainable aviation fuel. He will be
joined by John Humphrey, the newly-appointed HM Trade
Commissioner for Africa.
Prime Minister said:
“It is an underappreciated fact that our unique union of nations
is buzzing with economic activity. Trade and commerce ties
criss-cross continents, greased by shared language and legal
systems.
“The Commonwealth contains some of the world’s fastest growing
economies and dynamic cities, from Chennai to Cape Town. The new
initiatives we are launching today will ensure the UK is at the
forefront of seizing opportunities, driving shared growth and
prosperity for the benefit of all of our people. I am more
optimistic than ever that the people of Africa and every member
of the Commonwealth can thrive and prosper through free
enterprise.”
In the year of the Queen’s Jubilee, the UK will introduce new
Platinum Partnerships to turbocharge our trade with key
Commonwealth countries, as well as five new virtual Centres of
Expertise to provide in-depth advice and coaching on green
growth, infrastructure, financial services, public finance and
trade.
The Prime Minister will also confirm plans to launch the
ambitious Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) in the
coming weeks, replacing the Generalised Scheme of Preferences we
had under the EU to reduce costs and simplify trading rules for
65 developing countries. The DCTS will reduce import tariffs on
foodstuffs, clothing and other items by over £750m per year,
benefiting businesses in 18 Commonwealth countries and helping to
bring down prices for UK consumers.
This builds on the UK’s financial and technical support for the
African Continental Free Trade Area, which is expected lift 30
million people out of extreme poverty and generate $450 billion
for African nations - nine times more than they received in
development aid in 2019.
The Commonwealth’s GDP has risen by a quarter since 2017 and is
forecast to jump by close to another 50 per cent to $19.5
trillion over the next five years, creating exciting new export
markets for UK businesses. UK Export Finance will announce today
support worth £124 million to modernise and expand Georgetown
Public Hospital in Guyana, creating 256 new hospital beds and
state of the art maternity facility to reduce post-natal
mortality rates. More than 40 percent of the services and
supplies for the project will come from UK providers.
The Prime Minister will also welcome significant new India health
export deals for the UK firm Isansys and the Guy’s and St Thomas’
NHS Foundation, building on the £1bn worth of trade and
investment wins secured on his visit to India. Later today, the
PM is expected to set out transformative new investments in clean
and green technology at the Commonwealth Business Forum.
