Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

6th May 2014 Mumbai, India

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by Vijay Iyer

Senior Science & Innovation Adviser

Roundtable on UK-India manufacturing policy

Last month on April 9, my colleagues – Leena Arora (Science and Innovation Network) and Abhirup Dasgupta (UK Trade and Investment) – and I collaborated with the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge to organise a roundtable discussion on UK-India manufacturing policy in New Delhi. While the UK speakers came from organisations including […]

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5th May 2014

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by Christopher Prentice

Former British Ambassador to Italy

HRH Prince Harry in Italy on 18-19 May

‘A nation that forgets its past has no future.’ Churchill’s words are still relevant today. On the 18-19 May HRH Prince Harry will visit Italy to attend a number of events commemorating the Allied Campaign in Italy during WWII, focussing on the 70th anniversary of the Battles of Monte Cassino. We are honoured that HRH […]

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5th May 2014

by Peter Tibber

Ambassador to Colombia

Press Freedom Day

Saturday was World Press Freedom Day. I marked the occasion by attending a celebration at the Omdurman University College for Press and Printing Technology. Apparently it’s the first time that an academic institution in Sudan has held such an event. It was well attended by a number of very senior, distinguished and courageous figures from […]

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5th May 2014 Vientiane, Laos

Philip Malone

by Philip Malone

Ambassador to Lao PDR

April 2014 Monthly Snapshot

April 2014 View our activities this past month! Visit from Warwick University James Kennedy, Director of the International Office of the University of Warwick visited us again, sharing information about studying at Warwick and the UK government’s scholarship programme with Lao students from Soutsaka College and Oxford Education. #OneGreatYear On 2 April, we marked exactly one year since we […]

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4th May 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria

Beautiful Rila

by David Pert David Pert lived in Sofia from 1996 to 2000 when he worked in the Visa, Consular and Political Sections of the British Embassy Sofia.  I’m David Pert, and lived in Sofia from 1996 to 2000 when I worked at the British Embassy. I lived in the wonderful Boyana area of town with […]

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3rd May 2014

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by Greg Dorey

Diplomat

Media Freedom for a Better Future

Today is World Press Freedom Day #WPFD. The work that journalists do is often dangerous and difficult. Unfortunately, 2013 was one of the most dangerous years for the profession across the world, with 70 journalists killed. Many of these were caught in the cross-fire of armed hostilities. They had been trying in exceedingly difficult circumstances […]

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