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Global Business Report:
Pan-Commonwealth Conference on Professional Services Trade
Africa to Export Nursing Services to Europe

Posted: Monday February 25, 2008

The international community is fast coming to grips with the fact of increasing globalization in labor. This fact was registered last week during a British Commonwealth Conference on Trade in Professional Services which took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Feb. 19-12).

The conference focused on five service areas: ICT-enabled services (telemedicine, accountancy); Legal and financial services; Construction services (engineering, architecture); Education; and Health services.

The Commonwealth Secretariat sees the export of professional services as a key component in the growth of member nations' export trade and has organized the conference to highlight inherent opportunities and help member states develop capabilities in the export of professional services.

The conference looked at regulatory issues around professional services trade; strategy development and the role of the diaspora in promoting professional services trade.

The conference was attended by over 380 delegates representing governments and private sector firms. Several memoranda of understanding were signed between participating organizations from different countries.

One of the private sector deals was signed between Global Links Network -- a Canadian consulting firm; and Visionary Development SDN BHD (vDev) -- a Malaysian firm specializing in market research and feasibility studies. The two companies agreed to collaborate in the provision of export training and capacity building workshops for potential Small and Medium Enterprises.

Another deal signed during the conference was between the government of the United Kingdom and the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) to develop a pilot project for the provision of African trained nurses for employment in the United Kingdom. Four countries in the East African region -- Uganda, Malawi, Kenya and Mauritius -- were selected to participate in the pilot project.

Nurses from these countries will be trained locally and afterwards hired by hospitals and other nursing care outfits in Britain and Northern Ireland where they will work for four-year periods before returning home.

Included in the proposal for export professional nursing services from these East African countries is a program of training where African training institutions will be twinned with their UK counterparts in order to share knowledge and expertise. Trainers from the UK would teach in African institutions selected for the twinning program.

“The idea is to have a win-win situation, where source countries will see an increase in the number of trained professional nurses, having an opportunity to work in developed countries, earning better salaries and returning home to share the expertise they will have gained while working abroad,” said Dr. Michael Davenport, a consultant engaged by the Commonwealth Secretariat for the project.

Each of the participating African countries will contribute 30 nurses initially and their local training will be financed by the United Kingdom -- employer country.