Summit Communications: To begin with Dr. Kaul, please share a little about the history and aims of the Commonwealth Business Council with the readers of The New York Times.

Dr. Mohan Kaul: The Commonwealth Business Council was created in 1997 when Tony Blair became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Commonwealth heads of state met in October of that year in Edinburgh with the theme of "Sharing Economic Prosperity." Tony Blair asked us if there was a business case for the Commonwealth. A number of commonwealth countries had taken important steps towards developing market economies so this was auspicious timing. The Commonwealth constitutes about US$2.5 trillion of trade globally, $100bln in FDI outflows and 17,000 listed companies. English is the main language and there are similar accounting and legal practices. As a result, the costs of doing business from one country to another are reduced by up to 20%.

Our role is to increase the role of the private sector in Commonwealth countries and increase global trade and investment between Commonwealth countries; to promote global trade and responsible global investment through good governance and social responsibility and make globalization work for all. We have seen tremendous change in the last few years in those countries that have opened up their economies and started participating more fully in global trade.

Summit Communications: The Commonwealth is the world's second largest trading bloc after the EU. However, recently the Europe has very much been the focus of the UK government. Do you feel the Commonwealth is being given the priority it deserves?

Dr. Mohan Kaul: Things come in waves. Recently, Europe has been the focus for Britain. It represents a big market for the UK particularly with ten new countries joining an enlarged Europe means increased business and trade opportunities. In the same way, Britain is looking towards the Commonwealth to enlarge its business and trade network and if we look at the big countries in the Commonwealth then India is a large country. In the next ten years, Britain will focus on Europe, China the US and Commonwealth countries. In India, even if 300 million of the 1 billion population has the same income as an OECD in ten years time then, along with Australia, Canada, South Africa and many countries in Africa, the Commonwealth will become the world's largest trading bloc. It has tremendous potential.

Summit Communications: From the 29th till 30th March, the Sierra Leone Investment Forum will be held in Freetown. How does the Sierra Leone Investment Forum reflect the vision and values of the Commonwealth Business Council?

Dr. Mohan Kaul: Sierra Leone is a model for us. I was involved in the post-conflict training of public administration, public enterprise, chief executives and the private sector in order to build capacity. Increasingly, we are seeing in post-conflict countries that have managed to make a successful transition from war, maintain stability and follow the path of an open, market economy presided over by a responsible government with a responsible private sector that it pays. Tanzania had a growth rate of 2% in 1998 and now it is 7.2%. Likewise, Sierra Leone has shown an impressive growth rate in the last few years. It has all the ingredients to be a successful economy so now is the right time to market it to the outside world. It would have been premature to have organized something like the Sierra Leone Investment Forum earlier but we felt now was the right time to promote Sierra Leone in the global investment community.

Summit Communications: Particularly because one of the main barriers to investment in Sierra Leone is the popular misconception that the country is still unstable. As head of the Commonwealth Business Council, what do you feel is the best way of dispelling these misconceptions?

Dr. Mohan Kaul: With the investment community, we have to tell the same story again and again. Representatives of the Sierra Leonean government came here to talk to businesses and talk about their commitment to developing an increasingly friendly investment environment. We need to demonstrate that the government is making the right decisions, increasing regulations without increasing the cost of doing business and generally creating the right environment for the private sector to flourish. It is testimony to the environment that they are creating that foreign investors have returned to the country in significant numbers.

Summit Communications: As you have pointed out, the government of Sierra Leone has worked hard to create a more investor-friendly environment in the last few years with measures such as the Investment Promotion Act of 2004, and the establishment of a one-stop-shop at the Sierra Leone Export Development and Investment Corporation. Dr. Kaul, are there any particular measures or incentives that you feel it is important to highlight to the international investment community?

Dr. Mohan Kaul: One is the willingness of the government to listen and to act. The leading figures in the government recognize the importance of investment and are accessible to the concerns of private business. They're reducing the cost of the business and introducing transparent regulations and corporate taxation. The last thing to highlight is the whole question of honest and clean government and the question of corruption. Investors are raising concerns over governance again and again but there are encouraging signs that there is a framework being put into place to ensure a more effective use of public funds. Addressing these concerns is essential if the country is to attract more investors.

Along with the government and the University, we have started an institute of directors with the aim of training executive directors in the public and private sectors and familiarise them with the Investment Promotion Act and the Government Budgeting and Accounting Act and make sure that they are aware of their responsibilities. If these measures are implemented effectively by people who are there because of their professional competence then overall governance will improve.

Summit Communications: You yourself have led the Commonwealth Business Council since its inception in 1997. Where would you like to take this organization both within Sierra Leone and further afield in the coming years?

Dr. Mohan Kaul: The main aim is economic empowerment of all people. We want to increase the number of people benefiting from globalization. We want 3 billion people outside of the global trade network to become part of this process. We have to reduce poverty and this can only be done if we have economic empowerment of people and this will only come with the private sector growth, entrepreneurship and market access. People will then generate more wealth. An open investment code is an important part of this process. Countries such as Tanzania, Ghana, Mozambique and Uganda have all benefited in the past five years from reforming these codes. All the countries are now on their way up.

Recently, at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, we organized a Business Action for Africa Forum where 500 business leaders discussed doing business in Africa and how to create a better investment climate. We decided that we would double the number of small businesses in Africa and work with those countries with a growth rate of 5% or more because once we create a sizeable middle class in Africa then it will pull the rest of the continent up. We hope to achieve that in the coming years.

Summit Communications: It's a very interesting position you occupy in the Commonwealth Business Council because you are providing a bridge between the public and the private sector. Using the private sector as a motor to fulfil public sector policy if you will. You are a man who has worked extensively in the public and private sectors. We are keen to understand how this ties in with your personal philosophy.

Dr. Mohan Kaul: When I was young the social model was seen as the way forward. I was part of the 1968 student revolution in the Sorbonne led by several Nobel prize winners. With my experience in making the public sector more efficient I realized that unless you have sufficient incentives, unless you have the incentive to achieve and people have that passion, then you cannot create the necessary mechanism for creating wealth. If we run more efficient, smaller governments that provide the platform and the incentives for the private sector to thrive then I believe that wealth will be created and social justice will be achieved. The idealistic part of the equation is that every actor has to play his role responsibly. If this happens then society in general will prosper. We have to unleash global entrepreneurship. It has worked in China, it has worked in India, it has worked in a number of countries in South East Asia and it has worked in Africa. For instance, six years ago, when I started working in Tanzania, there was hardly any business. Today, it is a different place. There are local entrepreneurs and farmers exporting their produce to Europe and last year when I went to Mozambique for a conference there were half a dozen Tanzanians there looking for opportunities to invest in agriculture in Mozambique.

I am convinced that if you create the right environment then things can happen. Once people are economically empowered then they can make their leaders accountable for their actions.

I am hopeful that the Sierra Leone Investment Forum will be the first step on this road. I know the Sierra Leoneans are naturally entrepreneurial and the country is incredibly rich in resources in so many different sectors. The present government has a President who is a local man with an international understanding and is creating the right governance framework for the leaders of tomorrow.

Summit Communications: I've reached the end of the interview but I'd like to give you the opportunity to send a final, direct message of friendship to the readers of the New York Times.

Dr. Mohan Kaul: Those readers who have interest in developing markets should look at those markets with open eyes. That's to say that not everything is bad or good. There is a mix of both everywhere and if we look only at the bad things then it doesn't generate confidence. These countries need encouragement to grow and do better.