Antigua and Barbuda extends thanks to the Secretary-General and to the Commonwealth Secretariat for the excellent arrangements for this trade ministers meeting. We also extend thanks to Rwanda, our Chair in Office, for its expert chairing of these proceedings.
Antigua and Barbuda supports the Commonwealth’s continued commitment to deepening intra-Commonwealth trade and investment as an important vehicle for realising the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Commonwealth is one of the largest markets for exports from Small Island Developing States with significant, under tapped potential for increasing this trade. In this regard, Antigua and Barbuda re-affirms its strong support of the Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda.
Antigua and Barbuda further commends the Commonwealth’s work to assist SIDS, LDCs and vulnerable economies to build the necessary capacity to effectively and competently engage in the multilateral trading system as well as to develop and expand their export capacity.
We continue to call on our Commonwealth family to assist us in our call for a reform of the WTO dispute resolution system to ensure that decisions taken can be equitably enforced.
Antigua and Barbuda further endorses the work of the the Commonwealth Data Fellowship programme. The capacity constraints in SIDS and other vulnerable states also affects our ability to collect and analyse key data to inform and drive innovation and trade. A system for consistent and quality data collection will be critical to effectively growing trade.
We encourage those within our Commonwealth family with expertise and resources in this critical area of data collection to support the Commonwealth in delivering relevant capacity development programmes as well as to continue to produce data dashboards and data analytic tools to guide and assist member states.
Keeping abreast of developments in the digital economy and in digital trade will be key factors in growing intra-Commonwealth trade.
Antigua and Barbuda has made the digital economy an integral part of our development strategy. As home to the fourth landed campus of the University of the West Indies, we are developing the University’s first ever School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence.
This department will play an important part in developing important areas such e-Governance and the digital economy. As such, we have already signalled our interest in serving as a champion country for Artificial Intelligence in The Commonwealth.
For SIDS, the ocean space has become an area of increased significance as we seek to sustainably develop our blue economies. Antigua and Barbuda extends appreciation to the Commonwealth for the central role it continues to play in developing the Centre for Oceanography and the Blue Economy at the University of the West Indies campus in Antigua.
This regional centre will provide the important research and technical work needed to identify and inform the opportunities that the Caribbean ocean space provides for trade and investment.
The Centre will provide the academic and technical foundation to identify new areas for export and strengthen existing areas.
This will in turn support the diversification of our economies and reduce poverty. To this end, Antigua and Barbuda re-affirms its commitment as a Co-Champion of the Commonwealth Blue Economy Action Group and to supporting its work alongside fellow member states.
Finally, Antigua and Barbuda expresses a strong commitment to gender parity and support for women in trade. In the Caribbean, women represent the largest percentage of workers in the informal and service economies. Some 60% of all the workers in the tourism sector are women.
Further, women are the largest owners of small businesses and sole trade establishments and, as the pandemic demonstrated, among the most vulnerable to negative trade shocks.
Women are also, in many cases, the main or sole breadwinners in their households.
Consequently, Antigua and Barbuda places on record our strong support for the provisions on gender and women in trade contained in the Commonwealth Report on Enhancing Intra-Commonwealth Trade and Investment.
Thank you Excellencies.
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