Antigua and Barbuda wants to maximize the significant benefits that accrue as a
member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the grouping of mainly former British
territories.
The country’s Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister, E.P Chet Greene was among
ministers attending Commonwealth Trade Ministers Meeting (CTMM) held at the
Commonwealth Secretariat in London this week. The CTMM was convened under
the topic “Delivering A Common Future: Co-Operation For Resilient, Inclusive,
Green and Digital Economies” from 6 th to 7 th June 2023.
In remarks to the meeting, Greene reaffirmed Antigua and Barbuda’s support for
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 engage in the
multilateral trading system effectively and competently, 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,” he urged.
Greene also gave full marks to the Commonwealth Data Fellowship programme,
noting that the capacity constraints in SIDS and other vulnerable states also affect
their ability to collect and analyse key data to inform and drive innovation and
trade.
The Trade Minister also implored what he termed ‘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.
He pointed to the innovations taking place at the University of the West Indies
Five Islands Campus which is developing the University’s first-ever School of
Computing and Artificial Intelligence. “This department will play an important
part in developing important areas such as e-Governance and the digital economy.
As such, we have already signaled our interest in serving as a champion country
for Artificial Intelligence in The Commonwealth,” Greene declared.
Minister Greene was joined, in preparing for these meetings, by High
Commissioner Karen-Mae Hill, Senior Trade Analyst in the Ministry of Trade
Jomica Carbon-Constant, and Winston Williams Jr.
