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COMMONWEALTH: New Call to Bypass Hong Kong

Sanjay Suri

VALLETTA, Malta, Nov 24 2005 (IPS) - In a bold new move, business leaders from Commonwealth countries have proposed a free trade area of their own if the Hong Kong summit next month fails to deliver a trade agreement.

In a bold new move, business leaders from Commonwealth countries have proposed a free trade area of their own if the Hong Kong summit next month fails to deliver a trade agreement.

The Commonwealth Business Forum said in a resolution Thursday that ”countries that are willing should explore the possibility of establishing a Commonwealth preferential or free trade area.”

This would be ”particularly important if the Doha round of trade negotiations is not successful,” the resolution said.

The resolution has taken on considerable significance at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting taking place here this week. The business forum drew 620 leaders from business and government from 50 countries, and it was also attended by six heads of state and government, and by more than 50 ministers.

Business leaders have said that that setting up a Commonwealth free trade agreement is feasible, and not just fanciful. The Commonwealth is a group of 53 nations that were once a part of the British Empire.

”Everybody including the United States are signing bilaterals, so I have suggested, and the CBC (Commonwealth Business Council) has suggested the last two days, including to the foreign ministers yesterday, that they should consider a preferential or a free trade agreement among the Commonwealth countries,” CBC co-chair Rahul Bajaj, chief executive of the Bajaj Auto company in India told IPS.

The business forum of the CBC was held in parallel with a two-day meeting of foreign ministers of Commonwealth countries. The proposal has been discussed directly with ministers from several countries, and the business suggestion has found considerable political support, sources at the forum meeting told IPS on condition that they were not named.

A Commonwealth free trade agreement has several advantages, Bajaj said. ”We have a common language, judicial system, free press, we all feel at home in Commonwealth countries.”

Such an agreement may not have to include every country, Bajaj said. ”There are three countries, UK, Malta and Cyprus which are members of the EU,” he said. ”As per their rules they may not be able to join a separate trade agreement. But what about the other 50 countries? All of these can.”

Over the last few years heads of government had been talking about terrorism and the environment, but they recognise that ”trade and investment matter, so we should do more and more.” And a free trade agreement between Commonwealth countries could enable more trade to everyone’s advantage, he said.

The fact that the Commonwealth countries are scattered need not be an obstacle, he said. ”If there can be an agreement between China and India, and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and India, then why not the Commonwealth? Because we are not contiguous? So what has Chile to do with APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), which involves the United States?”

In a further development, ASEAN is now considering a trade agreement with the EU.

The CBC says Commonwealth trade could make it the largest bloc after the EU. ”As the world’s second largest trading bloc after the EU, handling trade worth 2.8 trillion (a trillion is a thousand billion) dollars annually, and with FDI (foreign direct investment) outflows of some 100 billion dollars, they account for more than 20 percent of international trade and investment.”

The CBC has proposed the establishment of a ”small group of Commonwealth heads and business leaders to develop a more deeply rooted public-private programme.”

But short of a Commonwealth free trade agreement, the CBC has sought ”Commonwealth participation in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) system at the intergovernmental level and through business-government dialogue.”

A successful conclusion of the Doha round could boost global trade by 300 billion dollars, of which 48 billion dollars would go to developing countries, the CBC says.