Investing in the Commonwealth

There has never been a more advantageous window of opportunity for Finnish, Nordic and Baltic enterprises to invest in the Commonwealth Countries.

The concept of the Commonwealth may not be at all familiar to entrepreneurs here, yet the family atmosphere and strong socio-economic links between the countries have begun to attract private sector investment and venture opportunities from third countries that have a lot of value to offer.  Not least, HM Queen Elizabeth II has laid considerable stress on her role as Head of the Commonwealth, and made a great contribution to the association.
“The Commonwealth bears no resemblance to the empires of the past. It is an entirely new conception built on the highest qualities of the spirit of man: friendship, loyalty, and the desire for freedom and peace.”

So what is the Commonwealth, and what’s in it for you?

The Commonwealth is an association of 53 independent states consulting and co-operating in the common interests of their peoples and in the promotion of international understanding, global development and world peace.  It has 2 billion citizens, about 30 per cent of the world’s population, drawn from the broadest range of faiths, races, cultures and traditions.  It does not have a written constitution.  It does have a series of agreements setting out its beliefs and objectives.  Declarations or Statements were issued at various Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings.  Core beliefs are set out in the Declaration of Commonwealth Principles, issued at the 1971 summit in Singapore. It stresses the need to foster international peace and security; democracy; liberty of the individual and equal rights for all; the importance of eradicating poverty, ignorance and disease; and it opposes all forms of racial discrimination.  Furthermore, the Commonwealth enhanced its business and trade goals in the 1991 Harare Declaration.

BCCCF shares the Harare Declaration Business, Trade & Global Economic Development Goals:

• the promotion of sustainable development and the alleviation of poverty in the countries of the Commonwealth through:
• a stable international economic framework within which growth can be achieved;
• sound economic management recognising the central role of the market economy;
• effective population policies and programmes;
• sound management of technological change;
• the freest possible flow of multilateral trade on terms fair and equitable to all, taking account of the special requirements of developing countries;
• an adequate flow of resources from the developed to developing countries, and action to alleviate the debt burdens of developing countries most in need;
• the development of human resources, in particular through education, training, health, culture, sport and programmes for strengthening family and community support, paying special attention to the needs of women, youth and children;
• effective and increasing programmes of bilateral and multilateral co-operation aimed at raising living standards

BCCCF supports the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC), which now has targets to develop partnerships in the Nordic countries (public-private sector)

• The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) provides leadership in increasing international trade and investment flows, creating new business opportunities, promoting good governance and corporate social responsibility, reducing the digital divide and integrating developing countries into the global market
• In fulfilling its mission, CBC strives to provide a bridge between the private sector and governments, between emerging markets and developed markets and between small businesses and international private sector
• CBC’s goal is to achieve economic empowerment for shared global prosperity through the enhancement of private sector contribution to social and economic development

BCCCF shares the desire to strengthen and enrich the lives not only of its own members and their stakeholders, in Finland and throughout The Commonwealth, but also of the wider community of enterprises and peoples of which they are a part.

BCCCF has a distinctive contribution to offer, for Finland & the Commonwealth, which until now, has not been addressed.

BCCCF will assist in the development and delivery of programmes and services which harness our shared historical, professional, cultural and linguistic heritage and which complement the work of other national, regional and international organisations. 

Our current trade missions programme to the Commonwealth countries, and from those countries into Finland, provides a wealth of real business opportunities and connections which will attract owner-managers from SMEs and board members of larger corporations alike. Our missions are delivered in a result focused way that differs from the run-of-the-mill missions of the past.  Success stories and best practice will be published and disseminated widely to enable future globally inspired entrepreneurs to stretch their wings in a safe, professional and tactile way to achieve long-term profit advantage.  Exactly in tune with our motto: ”Common Interests, Common Business, Common Wealth”.

BCCCF, 2009.

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