Queen to open Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta

It stated that the Head of the Commonwealth, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, would formally declare the summit open and host a banquet in honour of President Buhari and other participating Heads of State and Government.

On Friday, the queen will open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, a biennial summit of leaders from Britain and mostly its former colonies.

Countries most at risk – including low-lying small island states and poor nations in Africa, many of whom are Commonwealth members – have called for capping warming to 1.5 C, saying anything less would result in catastrophic impacts. The Queen is also being supported in her visit by The Prince of Wales, accompanied by The Duchess of Cornwall.

The Prime Minister was received here at the Luqa International Airport by Pakistan’s Ambassador to Tunisia Zaheer Pervaiz Khan and officials of the Malta government.

Born out of the British empire, the Commonwealth of Nations brings together around a quarter of the world’s countries and a third of its population.

Oliver Everett, Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, one of the organisers of the forum, said; “Business does not function in a vacuum”, and the issues which engage the Commonwealth business community are in fact manifold.

This is the second CHOGM to be held in Malta in 10 years and it may well be the last to be attended by the Queen, 89, since the next two meetings will be held in the Pacific and the Queen no longer travels long haul.

Later, the prime minister attended the reception hosted by Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma for the visiting dignitaries.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said after he takes over as Chair in Office from President Sirisena, he would work with the vision of making the organization a people’s commonwealth, rather than a Commonwealth of States.

During the Meeting, elections for the new Secretary General of the Commonwealth will be held.

“The fight against extremism is something that affects us all”, Mr Cameron will say. He said President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel “were very pleased that I was going to the Commonwealth, because they wanted me to make a real effort to talk about climate change” ahead of a major United Nations climate conference that begins in Paris next week.

David Cameron is to pledge £5m over five years for a new Commonwealth unit to counter extremism.