Emerging market and developing economies, for example the BRICS,4 showed stellar export volume growth of 10.4 per cent over this period, while advanced economies showed 6.2 per cent (IMF, 2017). While other countries experienced nearly double the trade growth compared with output growth, the goods and services export volume of Commonwealth small states grew at 3.7 per cent, compared with GDP growth of 3.2 per cent. These countries experienced a double whammy of lower GDP and lower export growth, which resulted in them not achieving their MDGs to a satisfactory level (UN, 2015).