The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) is an institution of the Commonwealth Family

Commonwealth Family

The Commonwealth Family is a network of associations, organisations, and charities affiliated to the Commonwealth of Nations. Although associated with the Commonwealth, they are not fully a part of it, and membership is on a voluntary basis from within the membership of the Commonwealth...

 that aims to utilise the global network of the Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 more effectively for the promotion of global trade and investment for shared prosperity. It was formed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1997

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1997

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1997 was the fifteenth Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Edinburgh, the United Kingdom, between 24 October and 27 October 1997, and hosted by Prime Minister Tony Blair.It was the largest summit in modern...

 (CHOGM), in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

The CBC acts as a bridge for cooperation between business and government, concentrating efforts on these specific areas:

• Enhancing Trade
• Mobilising Investment
• Promoting Corporate Citizenship
  Corporate citizenship
  Corporate citizenship is a term used to describe a company's role in, or responsibilities towards society. For this reason it is sometimes used interchangeably with corporate social responsibility, and in fact many companies including Microsoft, IBM and Novartis have used it in this way to describe...
  
  
• Facilitating ICT for Development
• Public Private Partnerships

Commonwealth countries are major stakeholders in the process and success of the Doha Development Agenda. Together the Commonwealth’s 53 member countries account for 30 per cent of the world’s population and about 25 per cent of its international trade and investment. Commonwealth countries account for 40 per cent of WTO membership. CBC’s trade development objectives include encouraging
trade facilitation and further liberalisation of services; encouraging developing countries to play an active role in the World Trade Organisation, and in new trade rounds, by maximising their negotiating strength through cooperative action.

The CBC helps to mobilise investment into Commonwealth countries through measures including ensuring access to international capital markets; strengthening 26 domestic capital markets; encouraging regional integration; committing the private sector to work together with governments to help achieve a successful market economy for generating investment.

A key feature of CBC is its global membership, comprising corporate members from both developed and developing countries. This gives CBC the capacity to make a special contribution to the debate on corporate citizenship, dominated by developed countries.

The CBC has been working to involve private sector

Private sector

In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...

 engagement in facilitating the implementation of an Information Communications Technologies for Development programme. The CBC programme enhances collaborative partnerships between the various stakeholders including governments, private sector, donor agencies and civil society

Civil society

Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...

. Major goals include:

• Bridge the digital divide
  Digital divide
  The Digital Divide refers to inequalities between individuals, households, business, and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels in access to information and communication technologies and Internet connectivity and in the knowledge and skills needed to effectively use the information...
  
   for both social and economic development.
• Promote ICT for Development in Commonwealth countries.
• Promote an experience exchange among stakeholders in Commonwealth countries.
• Promote business and government cooperation for development.
• Create awareness and enhance the knowledge of policy makers regarding economic, technical and legal aspects of implementation of ICT for development.
• Provide and facilitate training and capacity building
  Capacity building
  Capacity building also referred to as capacity development is a conceptual approach to development that focuses on understanding the obstacles that inhibit people, governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations from realizing their developmental goals while enhancing...
  
  .

CBC believes that there remains a significant gap for independent support to emerging market governments in the structuring and transacting of ICT infrastructure opportunities. The key CBC objectives are:

• Examine how support from highly experienced individuals can assist through the creation of an infrastructure technical advisory unit.
• Provide senior-level government support to provide focused advice.
• Provide mechanisms that will help governments leverage the huge capacity of the private sector to address the demand for better infrastructure.