CHOGM: Australian Initiatives

Prime Minister

I am pleased to announce increased Australian funding in support of the Commonwealth's developing country members.

First, Australia will increase its contribution to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC) by 10 per cent each year for the next three years. This will take Australia’s contribution from $7.2 million in 1999-2000 to $9.5 million by 2002-03.

Australia supports the CFTC as the Commonwealth’s main vehicle for strengthening good governance in Commonwealth member countries. In particular, we value its work in supporting democratic and legal institutions. The Fund is the Commonwealth’s main development programme and also covers fields such as economic and debt management, trade and investment, human resource development and public sector reform.

Second, at Edinburgh in 1997, the Commonwealth’s Trade and Investment Access Facility (TIAF) was established at my initiative with an Australian grant of $1.5 million over three years. Britain, Canada and New Zealand also gave the initiative strong support. It has been successful and Australia will continue its support with an annual grant of $500,000 a year for the next three years. TIAF helps Commonwealth developing countries manage the impact of globalisation and make better use of the WTO to pursue trade and investment opportunities. Third, Australia will fund a special training programme for trade negotiators from Africa.

The programme will help African countries, including non-Commonwealth members,< maximise their benefits from the new WTO trade round. The programme will cost $300,000. Fourth, Australia will provide $3 million over six years in order to extend to 2006 the Australia-South Pacific 2000 Sports Programme. The programme was due to end in 2000, but has been extremely successful in encouraging sports development in the South Pacific. Lastly, in the IMF/World Bank context Australia announced in September an additional $35 million for the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC). A number of the countries involved are Commonwealth members. The HIPC initiative will help provide relief from indebtedness which, matched with essential policy reforms, can give developing countries a chance to achieve sustainable growth.

These initiatives reflect the government’s strong support for the Commonwealth as an institution which can make a unique contribution to strengthening good governance and supporting sustainable development.

15 November 1999