Bangladesh has been ranked 24th on a Commonwealth Innovation Index launched as part of a new Commonwealth Innovation Hub.
The index was launched as part the innovation hub on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which began in London on Monday.
The innovation index, topped by the UK, Singapore and Canada, has been created in partnership with the United Nations Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and its annual Global Innovation Index (GII).
It is aimed at providing a tool that allows member states, organizations and citizens to benchmark themselves against countries of the Commonwealth, with the new innovation hub offering a dedicated online space for Commonwealth countries to showcase what they have to offer and share with other members.
“Nearly 60% of the Commonwealth population is under 30 with a lot of talent and innovation and with this new digital platform, we now get to pool it and share it,” Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said.
She said: “This is part of the reform and renewal process of the organization, which will take it into a higher energy orbit and into the information age. It makes the Commonwealth even more relevant and fit for its sharing and caring purpose.”
The Global Innovation Fund (GIF) will work as the delivery partner to host a new Commonwealth Innovation Fund, which will use GIF’s existing due diligence processes for sourcing, evaluating and investing to generate a high-quality portfolio of enterprises that are aligned with the Commonwealth Secretariat’s priorities.
GIF will manage the fund and its investments, which will be targeted at innovative projects across Commonwealth countries that “save and improve lives.”
GIF highlighted its support for a project in Bangladesh on behavioural insight to increase tax compliance as one of its many innovative funding success stories.
During the ongoing CHOGM, the Commonwealth Innovation Fund will engage with member-countries to gain financial and other support for the fund.
It will give grant, equity and debt investments to support innovators across the Commonwealth to accelerate the development, testing and scaling up of evidence-based and market-tested innovations.
The target size of the new fund, with financial commitments from member-countries, is expected to be 25 million pounds of initial funds to prove the new model.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is among 53 heads of government who are set to participate in CHOGM, which will begin with her address on Educate to Empower as part of a plenary session of the Women's Forum on Tuesday.
This will be followed by the executive session of CHOGM, involving deliberations between the heads of government, and a leaders' retreat in Windsor Castle on April 20.
“The 2018 Commonwealth Trade Review predicted that trade between member states will be worth $700 billion by 2020…. Yet risks remain. Global growth is fragile. The challenges posed by protectionism are all too clear,” British Prime Minister Theresa May said in her opening speech for the Commonwealth summit.
“If Commonwealth businesses are to flourish in such times, if we are to deliver and secure the prosperous future our young people want and deserve, then the Commonwealth and national governments must not be afraid to act,” she added.This article was first published on banglatribune.com
Monday, July 20, 2026
