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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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29th March 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Simon Fraser in Mexico
I am delighted to have Simon Fraser, Head of the UK Diplomatic Service, as my guest blogger today. During his recent visit to Mexico, Simon Fraser spoke about the important and growing bilateral relationship between the UK and Mexico in a range of areas, including politics, education, trade and investment. Watch the video blog:
29th March 2012 Ottawa, Canada
“Some chicken! Some neck!”
On Monday evening the High Commissioner and I attended a reception at the Canadian House of Commons to celebrate the opening of a Library exhibit commemorating 70 years since Churchill’s world-renowned “Some chicken! Some neck!” speech. Few Canadians, I know, will be confused by that reference. But for the uninitiated, this was from Winston Churchill’s […]
29th March 2012 Budapest, Hungary
Building the Olympics
I can’t wait for the Olympics to start. I love to watch sport and the Olympics is really special. It’ll be even more special this year in London. I didn’t get any tickets in the public ballot so I’ll be watching the Games on TV. But the quality and diversity of the competition will be […]
28th March 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Visiting Scotland
In a recent blog, I noted after a visit to Northern Ireland the importance for British ambassadors abroad of understanding the country they represent. I spent last weekend in Edinburgh, at the kind invitation of the Scottish Catholic Bishops Conference. My programme included: meetings with the Catholic Bishops of Scotland, including Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien; […]
28th March 2012 London, UK
In Europe sticking to the rules matters
I was struck by the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) recent report that highlights how well Member States implement EU legislation that they have signed up to. I was pleased to see how the UK fares. From time to time the ECJ faces criticism in the UK that it looks to interpret EU competence too […]
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28th March 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Linking London and Bucharest Stock Exchanges
This week the Bucharest Stock Exchange established a partnership with the largest financial market in the world – the London Stock Exchange. When the UK’s Trade and Investment Minister Lord Green met the Foreign Investors Council in Bucharest earlier this month, one of the participants, Adrian Rosca of Chemco, made the far-sighted proposal that Romania […]
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28th March 2012 Warsaw, Poland
UKTI Deputy CEO sees Polish Opportunity First Hand
Poland tops the opportunity rankings in Central Europe. We are the largest export destination and the biggest population with the longest road to EU convergence – the latter really matters in appreciating the full potential of Poland’s growth cycle. Our UKTI Deputy CEO, Susan Haird, was in town last week for a two day market […]
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28th March 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Ambo in Ambo
“Ambo” is slang for Ambassador. So as soon as I knew of the existence of a town by that name in Ethiopia, I was keen to visit – I’ll go a long way for a good blog title. So I visited Ambo last Friday, not least so I could learn more about development outside of […]
27th March 2012 Ottawa, Canada
Low-carbon opportunities
I was at GLOBE 2012 in Vancouver, from 14-16 March. The conference looked at environmental, energy and sustainability issues. I’ve recorded a short video blog, which touches on the subjects and talks briefly about the London Olympics. Do watch it, and I hope it’s of interest. Many thanks. Andrew
26th March 2012 Lima, Peru
Ecobuild 2012: The perfect place to be at
By Juan Luis Reus, Deputy Director UK Trade & Investment, Peru Ecobuild 2012 in the UK is one of the most important and largest world Expos for the construction sector, with a major emphasis on sustainable construction for preserving our environment and conserving energy resources. This is the perfect place to be right now for a […]
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