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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
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International Day of Women in Diplomacy: UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls visit to Geneva
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The UN Commission on the Status of Women: My first visit as UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls
19th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
How to boost investment in Kyrgyzstan
My recent blog about our South Caucasus and Central Asia regional conference in Istanbul noted the importance of helping British and local businesses to grow across the region. Encouraging this to happen is one reason I was appointed to Istanbul as Consul General and Director-General of Trade and Investment for Turkey, South Caucasus and Central […]
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18th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Flying the flag and making friends
The Embassy is buzzing with British Week 2013 activity. We have so much going on this year open to the public that I wanted to highlight the opportunities so you don’t miss out! It some ways it feels like we are trying to do a year’s worth of events in one week. But the team […]
18th February 2013 Paris, France
Creating growth and jobs in our economies
All of us are looking for growth in our economies and the creation of jobs. From that point of view, it was very good news that President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union message, said that he was clearly in favour now of completing the work for a free trade commercial agreement between […]
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18th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
European diplomacy in action
In last week’s Riksdag debate on foreign policy, Carl Bildt highlighted the progress that the EU has made through the Eastern Partnership – a Sweden/Poland initiative, of which the UK has been a strong supporter. That support will be seen in action this week when British Foreign Secretary Hague makes a joint visit to Moldova […]
18th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A taxing issue…
The Prime Minister’s speech at Davos, and the Chancellor’s article in yesterday’s Observer, describe how the UK is working with OECD experts to push reform of the international tax system – to reduce tax base erosion and the shifting of profits by global corporations. I remember being struck by this issue at an Economic Club lunch in Washington […]
15th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Benedict XVI and the UK
The news that Pope Benedict XVI was stepping down led to messages flowing in to Rome from all corners of the world. Amongst the warmest have been many from the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister sent Pope Benedict the best wishes of Her Majesty’s Government. Foreign Office Minister of State Baroness Warsi wrote a moving […]
15th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Our prosperity
Prosperity is one of the major priorities of the UK government worldwide. We define it not just about increasing exports and investments (though both are important), but we also want to open markets up and promote sustainable growth. Belarus isn’t our largest market in the CIS but, in 2011, British exports to Belarus totalled £125m. […]
15th February 2013 Washington DC, USA
Valentine’s Night with the Obamas
Last year I bemoaned the lack of romance bought by spending Valentine’s Day evening with the otherwise charming British Government’s Chief Scientist, Sir John Beddington. (Of course in reality I secretly enjoyed it. Though that’s not something I admit to Layla.) But this year, Layla and I agreed we would determinedly avoid any event connected […]
15th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Florence Nightingale goes to London
My recent (cheeringly popular) blog ‘Why is everyone investing in the UK? why aren’t you?’ noted the brilliance of Britain as a top destination for European HQs for businesses from Turkey and elsewhere. One recent example of this is the recent decision by the Turkish Group Florence Nightingale to set up its European HQs in London, in […]
15th February 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
EU and US – partners for prosperity
As Carl Bildt underlined in the Riksdag, the US is Europe’s main international partner, on the security and prosperity agendas. So the UK government welcomes, as Sweden does, President Obama’s call in his State of the Union Speech last night for what he called “a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership” with the EU. Britain has […]