Local Economic Development is an important focus of much of CLGF’s activity. Working with a diverse range of partners to support and mainstream LED, local government is boosting local economies by increasing jobs and livelihoods.

LED driving trade

A review of CLGF’s work: Local Economic Development as a Driver of Trade in the Commonwealth,  authored by Vijay Krishnaryan, former head of the Commonwealth Foundation, considers the role that local government plays in enabling trade and the Commonwealth trade dividend. Among other things, it looks at the impact that greater decentralisation can have, as well as the need for regional value chains to be enhanced.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has been looking at the global trade performance of some of the Least Developed Countries (LCDs) in the Commonwealth. Despite the pandemic, they have found some encouraging stories, including those of Rwanda and Tuvalu, which have almost doubled their share of world exports.

Least developed countries' economic performance

Their paper: Why the least developed countries of the Commonwealth are doing better at trade, by Brendan Vickers, Head, International Trade Policy Section; Salamat Ali and Neil Balchin, explores the factors driving export growth in the Commonwealth LDCs, the impact of Covid, and the boost provided by intra-Commonwealth trade. They look at the example of the largest Commonwealth LCD, Bangladesh, and its strong export performance.

CLGF believes that LED will be crucial to COVID-19 recovery. Read both these papers to learn more.