CX hosts Commonwealth Minister at its Autumn reception at the FCO

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Last Thursday Commonwealth Exchange was delighted to welcome Rt Hon Hugo Swire MP, The Minister of State for the Commonwealth, to deliver the keynote speech at our Autumn reception.

The reception was held in the incredibly grand Locarno Suite (dubbed "the Drawing room for the Nation") at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

The Minister's full speech can be found here but here are a few of the highlights:

"We have a duty to ensure the Commonwealth continues to evolve, adapt and stay relevant in the 21st Century."

"Commonwealth Exchange... have rightly called for more focus on Commonwealth trade. We can - and must - be more ambitious."

"Together, we belong to a unique network - the Commonwealth family. It has global reach and great diversity. But it also has vast, untapped potential. And I hope tonight we take another step in releasing it."

Our Executive Director Tim Hewish also spoke at the event. He discussed the need to put trade at the centre of our engagement with the Commonwealth. In addition he laid out some of our upcoming projects, and in particular our upcoming visa report which launches a week today.

The final speech came from two Directors of Quirk, a marketing agency who launched in South Africa 15 years ago and now have clients and offices across the Commonwealth.

Thanks to all who attended, to the Minister and Quirk for speaking, and to the FCO for hosting. We hope you all enjoyed it.

Henry Bellingham MP joins CX Advisory Board

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We're pleased to announce that Henry Bellingham MP has joined our Advisory Board!

Henry is the Chair of the Commonwealth All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) and served as the UK's Minister for Africa, the Caribbean, the Overseas Territories between 2010-2012 (alongside our Chairman Lord Howell who was Commonwealth Minister at the time).

He has also served as the Shadow Minister for Small Business and Enterprise, and as Member of the Trade and Industry Select Committee. He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the Advisory Board and we are delighted to welcome him.

He joins a number of other Parliamentarians on the board, including APPG colleagues Robin Walker MP and Kate Hoey MP, as well as representatives from across the Commonwealth.

Henry has been supportive of CX from the start speaking at the launch event for Tim's book and attending our own Launch in July 2013. It's great to have him on board!

Henry (second from left) with the Secretary General, High Commissioners, MPs, Peers, and the CX team at our Launch Event

Henry (second from left) with the Secretary General, High Commissioners, MPs, Peers, and the CX team at our Launch Event

L-R: Henry, Richard Graham MP, CX Exec. Director Tim Hewish, Kate Hoey MP, and Lord Popat at Tim's book launch

L-R: Henry, Richard Graham MP, CX Exec. Director Tim Hewish, Kate Hoey MP, and Lord Popat at Tim's book launch

UK Commonwealth Minister takes part in twitter Q&A

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This morning, the UK Commonwealth Minister Hugo Swire MP took part in a Twitter question and answer session. He was kind enough to answer a number of our questions on a variety of topics including:

1) His recent lunch with the Commonwealth High Commissioners, the first of its kind:

(No mention of if there will be another one but we'll keep our fingers crossed!)

2) Our push for greater trade between Commonwealth nations, especially for SMEs:

3) Our campaign for a memorial for the Commonwealth fallen in the First World War:

We also asked questions about what Britain can learn from other free-trading Commonwealth countries and about the making the Commonwealth more about its citizens rather than its governments (as discussed by the UK High Commissioner to India recently).

You can look back at all the questions asked and answered on the #AskFCO hashtag but we've included a couple more of the Ministers answers below in response to questions about his vision for the Commonwealth and where he sees it going:

All in all it was a productive and interesting session. We hope for another soon!

UPDATE: The Foreign office have produced a Storify board with all the questions the Minister answered. You can see it here.