VIEW FROM THE CWP CHAIRPERSON
TRADE IN THE COMMONWEALTH: CONNECTIVITY, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND GENDER EQUALITY
Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Chairperson, Hon. Shandana Gulzar Khan, MNA, National Assembly of Pakistan
The Commonwealth has more than 2.4 billion people in 54 countries, including members of the G7, the G20, Least Developed Countries (LDC) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This large Commonwealth also faces major development challenges starting with a youth bulge, achieving the SDGs and the climaterelated challenges faced by Small Island Developing States. One in three young men and women, aged 15 to 21 years old live in a Commonwealth country, and neither the number of jobs available nor the quality of the livelihood opportunities are enough, sustainable or humane. Population growth is high and unable to match the change in demographics and numbers. In addition, COVID-19 has taken a huge toll on the number and quality of jobs available, in particular in the services sector.1 The failure to achieve the UN’s (previous) Millennium Development Goals adds a lot of pressure on the UN, its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and on member states to ensure we ‘leave no one behind’. Along with rapid climate change and the accompanying risks faced by the Small Island Developing States who require urgent financing, these problems are also exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its
“Perhaps the toughest challenges to trade links in the Commonwealth are coming from outside the Commonwealth network - for instance as a result of the spillovers of the race between China and the United States as the next growth engine of the world, restructuring global trade post COVID-19, new age free trade agreements that fail to take into account the SDGs or the gender pay gap; these are all serious economic problems on the horizon.” 8 | The Parliamentarian | 2022: Issue One | 100 years of publishing
impact on global supply chains. The restrictions on cash flow, supply shortages and soaring container costs have caused record inflation, forcing governments in the middle of their development agendas to divert government resources to providing cheap food and reducing energy costs. In the background, poorly thought-out mercantilist business processes, combined with automation and slow manufacturing growth pose major challenges to job-intensive development strategies, mainly for the developing world and a large part of the Commonwealth. Data from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators show that across the Commonwealth, some 12 million additional jobs were created each year between 2003 and 2016. However, to keep up with the new entrants to the labour market, 17.5 million jobs a year – or 50,000 jobs every day – must be created. Of all the Commonwealth countries, the need for more jobs is greatest in India, where 7.4 million more jobs will be needed each year. India is followed by Nigeria (2.3 million), Pakistan (1.8 million) and Bangladesh (1.0 million). Together, Commonwealth countries need to create three in every five jobs in the world, as other areas, such as Japan, China and Europe, see their labour force shrink. Job creation must be stepped up by 50% to meet this demand, and the promotion of trade and investment is central to creating quality jobs.2 Perhaps the toughest challenges to trade links in the Commonwealth are coming from outside the Commonwealth network - for instance as a result of the spillovers of the race between China and the United States as the next growth engine of the world, restructuring global trade post COVID-19, new age free trade agreements that fail to take into account the SDGs or the gender pay gap; these are all serious economic problems on the horizon. In terms of the overall importance of trade, intra-Commonwealth trade is particularly important for the least developed and most vulnerable member states; between 2013 and 2016, the Commonwealth was responsible for 26% of the total goods exports for LDC countries – up from 21% in 2006. For small, vulnerable economies (SVEs), this figure currently stands at 34%. Trade in goods within the Commonwealth directly supports an estimated 32.5 million jobs in its members’ economies. Employment
