Energising Commonwealth
Trade in a Digital World
Paths to Recovery Post-COVID
The Commonwealth is an association of 54 independent countries, comprising large and small, developed and developing, landlocked and island economies.
As the main intergovernmental body of the association, the Commonwealth Secretariat works with member governments to deliver on priorities agreed by Commonwealth Heads of Government and promotes international consensus building. It provides technical assistance and advisory services to members, helping governments achieve sustainable, inclusive and equitable development. The Secretariat’s work programme encompasses areas such as democracy, rule of law, human rights, governance and social and economic development.
The world has changed dramatically since the 2018 Commonwealth Trade Review. Since its onset in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of our 2.4 billion Commonwealth citizens and others around the world. There has been tragic loss of life, with the number of deaths globally now having exceeded 3 million, and there are wide-ranging economic, social and environmental consequences, which present immense challenges and will take some time to overcome.
The pandemic has resulted in the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression, creating an unprecedented crisis for world trade and investment. Lockdown measures, travel restrictions and social distancing across the Commonwealth and globally brought an abrupt halt to many of our usual economic and social activities. We have been compelled to rely even more on digital technologies, innovations and solutions in a range of areas, from health care and education to work, commerce and trade.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented global economic crisis. It has induced a deep recession in several Commonwealth countries and in their major export markets, which has significantly affected Commonwealth countries’ global and intra-Commonwealth trade. Foreign direct investment inflows to Commonwealth countries have also taken a considerable hit. The pandemic’s disproportionate impact on already vulnerable economies, societies and health care systems, with particularly severe effects on women, youth, the poor and the informally employed, could exacerbate existing challenges to inclusive growth in the Commonwealth and the pursuit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Indeed, the devastating economic consequences of COVID-19, together with other global exigencies in recent years, mean that 2011–20201 will be a lost decade in terms of gains from trade for the global community, especially for small states, least developed countries (LDCs) and countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This is disheartening because trade has helped lift millions of people from poverty to prosperity around the world and will be instrumental for combating the pandemic, reviving growth and achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets.
The Commonwealth Trade Review 2021 was prepared by Brendan Vickers (Head of Section), Salamat Ali, Neil Balchin, Collin Zhuawu, Kim Kampel, Hilary Enos-Edu and Kimonique Powell of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s International Trade Policy Section.
The team are grateful for the support of Paulo Kautoke, Senior Director of Trade, Oceans and Natural Resources at the Commonwealth Secretariat.
This publication benefited from three background papers funded by the Government of the United Kingdom and undertaken by Sangeeta Khorana and Hubert Escaith; Ben Shepherd and Anirudh Shinghal; and Karishma Banga and Sherillyn Raga for the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).
In addition, substantive background papers were prepared by Badri Narayanan Gopalakrishnan and his team; Geoffrey A. Pigman, who also reviewed chapters and provided substantive inputs; and Sangeeta Khorana and Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzso. Peer reviewers Deborah Elms, Mohammad A. Razzaque and Christopher Stevens provided insightful and constructive comments on the draft.
The team thanks the following colleagues at the Commonwealth Secretariat for their helpful contributions: Benjamin Kwasi Addom, Kirk Haywood, Radika Kumar, Vashti Maharaj, Tanvi Sinha and Niels Strazdins.
Nick Ashton-Hart provided valuable comments and suggestions.
The Commonwealth Secretariat is extremely grateful to UNCTAD for sharing data on investment flows and e-commerce in the Commonwealth, especially Astrit Sulstarova and Torbjörn Fredriksson.
The production of this publication was managed by Sherry Dixon and Vicky Bates.
The copyediting was undertaken by Roo Griffiths. Shaneez Hassan provided excellent administrative support to the project.
The cover, infographics and charts were designed by Rory Seaford Design Ltd.