Improving international trade should go hand in hand with global efforts to lift countries out of poverty, the newly appointed secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations has told Devex.
Patricia Scotland said that under her leadership, the organization’s secretariat is working to improve trade between its 52 member states. Better commercial relationship can help feed into other development priorities, such as women’s empowerment, she said from the sidelines of the Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministerial Meeting in Apia, Samoa.
Her comments will strike a chord among development practitioners already primed for a more trade-focused aid agenda. The new development secretary at the U.K. Department for International Development, Priti Patel, recently announced her intention to use meetings with foreign leaders from countries that receive foreign aid as opportunities to forge new trade deals.
About the author
Gabriella Jóźwiak@GabriellaJ
Gabriella Jóźwiak is an award-winning journalist based in London. Her work on issues and policies affecting children and young people in developing countries and the U.K. has been published in national newspapers and magazines. Having worked in-house for domestic and international development charities, Jóźwiak has a keen interest in organizational development, and has worked as a journalist in several countries across West Africa and South America.
