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5th November 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A time to study…
As you may have spotted on the Embassy’s front page today, applications are now being accepted for the next round of the Chevening Programme – a prestigious full scholarship for a year’s Master’s degree study in the UK. We’re privileged to have sent a number of excellent students on this programme in the past, and […]
5th November 2012 Washington DC, USA
Washington, New York, and the Blustery Day
Last weekend while sitting in the TEDx MidAtlantic conference, I found myself feeling edgy. I kept compulsively checking my e-mails and Twitter feed for mentions of “Sandy”. After almost a year in Washington DC, hurricane Sandy was my first experience of extreme weather in the US. Which is why, as photographs of empty DC grocery […]
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5th November 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Travelling to the UK: Priority Business Visas
Business is booming between the UK and Turkey. We are well on track to meet the commitment made in 2010 by Prime Ministers David Cameron and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to double trade between our two countries by 2015. Part of boosting business is getting our visa policy right. That’s why earlier this year we introduced […]
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5th November 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Australia in the Asian Century: mutual challenges and opportunities
The Australian government published a White Paper last week setting out strategic directions for “Australia in the Asian Century”. It outlined things Australia needs to do to increase its orientation towards the rising Asian countries, and things it needs to do domestically to improve its economic competitiveness in the face of ever more intense competition. […]
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5th November 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
"Never, Ever Again…"
…I read on the statue outside the “Red Terror” Martyrs’ Memorial Monument museum in Meskel Square, Addis Ababa, when I visited recently. The motto reflects Ethiopia’s determination never again to allow the terror that flourished under the Derg military junta in 1977-8 to be repeated. Under Mengistu Haile Mariam, who still lives in exile in […]
2nd November 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Global Church
I often have to remind people that I am not accredited to the Vatican City State, but to the Holy See. This is an important difference. It means being accredited to the governance of the global Catholic Church including its 5,000 bishops, its capillary networks of nuncios, priests, religious and Catholic NGOs around the world, […]
1st November 2012 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Businessmen and Saints
Last week was taken up with the annual session of the Uzbek-British Trade and Industry Council, known as UBTIC. It brings together representatives of British companies working or interested in working in Uzbekistan, and of Government Ministries and state holding companies on the Uzbek side. It’s the biggest event of the commercial year for us, […]
1st November 2012 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Chevening Scholarships: Free, Chevening Experience: Priceless
What would you say if I told you that you could receive an all-expenses paid scholarship to a world-renowned British university and have the chance to join a global network of future leaders from a range of fields and industries? You would want to know more, wouldn’t you? Well, the British High Commission in Kuala […]
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31st October 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Different kinds of inspiration
Being an Ambassador involves many different experiences. Going to see the new James Bond film was exhilarating, but even better was meeting members of the Swedish Paralympic team from London 2012 last Friday night. I’ve written in this space before about the spirit of the Paralympics, but to meet the individuals who embody it was […]
31st October 2012 London, UK
Vocational English: building a bridge between education and industry.
Does anyone own the English language? Of course not, thank Goodness! Though I sometimes wish there were an “Acronym Authority”. Those questions cropped up in workshops I attended last week with 240 teachers from vocational and technical schools all over Brunei. The event was funded by the Ministry of Education, who have prioritised VTET – […]
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