Power in the Commonwealth

Many Commonwealth County's development aims are being held back by
inadequate power supply and infrastructure. We have prioritised
infrastructure development in developing Commonwealth countries as a key
driver of economic growth and living standards, as a part of this we
will hold our first Ministerial Power Summit next week in London.

The summit is designed to bring together key stake holders in the power
sector to discuss in detail the issues facing the industry, and share
best practice and solutions from around the Commonwealth. The Summit
will be addressed by Power Ministers from 12 countries including 2 of
the Commonwealths largest markets, India and Nigeria. The Ministers will
present, to the audience of power experts and financiers, on the
opportunities and challenges in there respective countries. Many are
traveling with delegations including senior officials and
representatives of their regulatory bodies.

Over the next 15 years global energy demand is expected to grow by 49%
with at least 70% of this will come from developing countries, led by
China and India. Government alone will be unable to deliver the
generation capacity required to meet this increase in demand.
Partnership between the private sector and Government are going to be
essential and the sharing of best practice between countries that have
already developed successful models will be required. We hope that next
weeks power summit will be able to help with this.

Commonwealth Business Forum Launch

On 31st January we launched of the Commonwealth Business Forum in Perth with the Premier of Western Australia, Hon Colin Barnett, and Special Minister of State, the Hon Gary Gray who represented the Prime Minister at the Event.

The Strength of the attendance at the Launch has further convinced me that this will be one of the best events CBC has ever held; the business community in Perth have a real enthusiasm for the Business Forum and are excited at the prospect of hosting their peers from across the Commonwealth.

The Forum will bring together business and government in unprecedented numbers, in my other travels I have already received positive feedback from India at both State and Federal Level and the President of Tanzania has agreed to bring a delegation to the Forum. We are planning for 15 Heads of Government, over 40 Minister, 100 Business Speakers and 1200 Delegates. It will be a great event and I hope you will be able to join – you can find our more at the newly launched event website www.cbf2011.com