UK and Singapore working for deeper financial and economic cooperation

It has been announced that "the UK and Singapore have agreed to set up a UK-Singapore Financial Dialogue, which will focus on deepening financial and economic cooperation between the two countries."

Singapore is already the UK's largest trading partner in South-East Asia and it's great to see efforts are being made to keep building this relationship. Financial services make up around 10% of the GDPs of both countries and they are ranked as the first and fourth leading Global Financial Centres.

Hopefully this new forum will lead to even stronger ties between the two countries.

New Website

Welcome to Commonwealth Exchange's new website!

We're still adding to it and tweaking it so keep coming back for the latest information on CX and our exciting campaigns.

You can keep up to date with what we're doing, Commonwealth developments, and opinion pieces here on the blog page and you can get news from around the Commonwealth on the News-stand page.

As with all new sites, we're sure there are a few glitches and errors. If you find one, please do let us know by commenting on this post or getting in touch on Facebook or Twitter.

Chancellor's Speech in Hong Kong

George Osborne MP, the UK Chancellor, addressed the British Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong yesterday. His discussion of the UK’s economic recovery were widely reported but his international comments are well worth reading too. He pointed out that “Hong Kong and the UK are now doing more business together than ever before.”

In a key passage he says:

Hong Kong and Britain have always had a special bilateral relationship.

That’s about much more than our historic and legal ties.

It’s about our shared values.

It’s about the influence that your culture has had on British life – and that our culture has had here.

It’s based on the thousands of Hong Kongers who study and work in Britain and the quarter of a million British citizens who choose to work here in Hong Kong.

And of course it is also about our inextricably intertwined economies.

So whereas others could make the mistake of seeing Hong Kong as nothing more than a jumping point for trade with mainland China, we in Britain know just how important Hong Kong is as a destination its own right.

He also goes on to praise the economic strength and resilience seen in Australia, Canada and Malaysia.

In one passage he describes the UK and Hong Kong as “two of the most open, free-trading, financially connected places on earth.” While relatively speaking he is correct, it is worth pointing out that the two are not identical in this respect. Indeed on every major indicator and index Hong Kong  surpasses the UK in this regard as can be seen in the below graphic which uses data from the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, the International Chamber of Commerce and the Heritage Foundation:

We hope that the Chancellor will take note and encourage the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth to follow Hong Kong’s example in order to maximise the mutual benefits and prosperity that international trade can bring.

The full speech is available here.

Foreign Secretary discusses partnership with Africa

William Hague MP, the UK’s Foreign Secretary, has been speaking on a visit to Brazil about the two countries’ partnership with Africa. The full speech is available here but the following section is particularly encouraging:

My argument today is that there are exciting opportunities for Britain and Brazil to work in partnership with African countries to promote economic growth, good governance and stability – drawing on our own expertise, history, knowledge and historic ties with different parts of Africa – and building on the development partnerships that we have already established.

Both of our countries’ relationships with Africa are rooted in history, though they are not defined by it.

Eighteen African countries, including Mozambique, are members of the Commonwealth, a vibrant, free association of countries from every continent working together for our shared values and shared prosperity. British Africans make an invaluable contribution to many areas of our national life, while many leading government figures in Africa studied at world class institutions in the UK.

Commonwealth Minister quizzed on UK trade with Commonwealth

Andrew at our launch event

Our Advisory Board member Andrew Rosindell MP has been quizzing the UK Commonwealth Minister. Yesterday he questioned Hugo Swire MP on "what action he is taking to develop the UK's trading relationship with other Commonwealth countries."

He responded:

"The UK is committed to strengthening trade across the Commonwealth. UK Trade and Investment is helping strengthen trade links with markets across the world that are key to the UK's future prosperity and is now represented in 22 Commonwealth countries. These include high growth markets such as India, Singapore, South Africa and Malaysia and others such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where we already have significant and well established trading relations. We are also working hard to ensure the EU signs ambitious Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Commonwealth countries to improve the access of UK companies to these markets. The EU has a Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement with South Africa, while negotiations on FTAs with Canada and Singapore reached a political conclusion last year. The EU/Canada Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement [our piece on this here] will benefit the UK economy and businesses by over £1.3 billion a year. EU negotiations are also ongoing with India and Malaysia.

Ahead of this year's Commonwealth games in Glasgow, UKTI, the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and the Commonwealth Business Council are working together to deliver a business conference for 200 Commonwealth business leaders. UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) are also organising a British Business House, which will showcase UK plc to Commonwealth businesses.

As the Minister of State for the Commonwealth, I spoke at the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) in Colombo [at which the Secretary General also welcomed CX], which took place ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, to highlight the Commonwealth's potential for increased trade and investment. UKTI sent a representative to the CBF to support British businesses.

We welcome the appointment of Lord Marland of Odstock as Chair of the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC). We expect his appointment will help the CBC work towards increased trade and investment across the Commonwealth."