UK attends Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa

28 Oct 2024 08:02 AM

The UK has strengthened trade and investment ties with some of the world's fastest growing economies at the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting in Samoa

The UK has strengthened ties with some of the world’s fastest growing economies at the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting which concluded on 26 October.

During the summit Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced a package of measures designed to boost intra-Commonwealth trade and investment and increase shared prosperity; empower young people with access to education and skills; support democratic governance, human rights and the rule of law; and help protect vulnerable countries from the impacts of climate change.

UK announcements included:

• Funding for a Commonwealth Investment Network to encourage greater investment within small and climate-vulnerable Commonwealth countries, and support to establish hubs in India and Sri Lanka to support female-led businesses.
• Additional funding  for technical support from trade advisers to help small and vulnerable Commonwealth member states negotiate within the World Trade Organization.
• A new scheme to train tax advisors to help developing Commonwealth economies boost their domestic tax revenue.
• UK support for Powering Renewable Energy Opportunities in six Pacific Island Countries, testing the application of clean energy technologies.
• Continued support to the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub, which helps small and vulnerable Commonwealth member states access international funding to tackle the impacts of climate change.
• A new commitment to promote food security, climate resilience and economic growth in the Caribbean through the Inter-American Development Bank’s new One Caribbean fund.
• Funding for a Commonwealth programme supporting countries to ratify the United Nations Agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).
• Support to the Waste and Resources Action Programme, working in partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance, to develop a voluntary Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for soft plastics in Pacific Island Countries.
• Allocations of up to 80 Chevening and Commonwealth Scholarships over a two-year period to support future leaders from Commonwealth Small Island Developing States to study in UK universities.
• Funding for a new Pacific regional initiative to tackle invasive species (PRISMSS), thereby strengthening ecosystem resilience, in collaboration with the Pacific Regional Environment Programme and the New Zealand Government.
• Increased UK support for work to protect and promote the rights and inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons and persons with disabilities in Commonwealth countries.
• Increased UK support for the Commonwealth’s work to support democratic governance and the rule of law, which includes the deployment of election monitoring missions in Commonwealth countries.

While in Samoa the Foreign Secretary accompanied Their Majesties The King and Queen throughout their bilateral State Visit programme. The Foreign Secretary also held bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa of Samoa, Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong of Australia, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain of Bangladesh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hugh Hilton Todd of Guyana, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith of Jamaica, Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi of Kenya, Foreign Minister Dr Abdulla Khaleel of Maldives, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar of Pakistan, and Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe of Rwanda.