7th March 2011
Ottawa, Canada
So we recently had a visitor in from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), a Mr. Robert Culshaw, the Deputy Director of BAS, to be precise. We (in collaboration with the British Council, WWF, the University of Ottawa, The Goethe Institute…) convinced Mr Culshaw to come to Ottawa to participate in a series of events that […]
Read more on The British Antarctic Survey, Robert Culshaw, and our second Science Salon! | Reply
4th March 2011
Islamabad, Pakistan
This was another sad week for Pakistan. On Wednesday morning, I was telling journalists about a doubling of the UK’s aid to Pakistan, when I was horrified to hear that Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti had been shot and killed in broad daylight in Islamabad. As I said that day, his death is a loss to […]
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1st March 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The chocolate flows down in an endless stream, pouring like a waterfall over the freshly-baked crispy wafers. Further down the production line, individual sticks are wrapped and packed in boxes. Lucky visitors are invited to taste the delicious end-product, fresh from the ovens. I’m at the “Roshen” chocolate factory in Vinnitsa, a city of 370,000 […]
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16th February 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Last night the Embassy was full of tour operators, agencies and attraction owners from Hungary and the UK, but also from Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia. They had spent the day in a seminar and tailored meetings organised by Visit Britain – the organisation that markets Britain overseas and develops the […]
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9th February 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Today the British Government launches its Trade and Investment White Paper. This is our statement to our trade and investment partners across the world, including Hungary, about how we plan to work together for mutual benefit. It’s about: Maximising the opportunities for businesses in the UK to trade and invest, and attracting investment to the […]
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9th February 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
At a recent press conference at the residence about the British Business Days in Ukraine a journalist asked me when the UK would actually start making investments in Ukraine in factories that produced things. I said there were a number of examples of such production, whether in manufacturing, agriculture or energy production; but that one […]
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4th February 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Check out these terrific photographs. They are the winners and honourable mentions of a photo competition called “Save Energy! Stop Climate Change! run by the British Embassy in Kyiv between October and December 2010. The aim of the campaign, about which I blogged in November, is to show the benefits of energy-saving measures both for […]
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4th February 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
We welcomed to Mumbai in January the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Dr Vince Cable. He came with an extensive professional and personal knowledge of India, and indeed affection for the country. He was happily married for thirty five years, until her death, to a lady whose parents were from Goa, and […]
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28th January 2011
New York, USA
Sting’s song about Quentin Crisp celebrated one British ex-patriate who made a home here. Last week, we honoured another. In June 2010, Her Majesty The Queen honoured former Mountbatten Director Michael Billett with the award of an OBE. Michael has been working with the Mountbatten Programme for 15 years. Mountbatten provides young British, Indian and […]
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27th January 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Two senior figures in British politics were in Mumbai in January – Vince Cable and Boris Johnson. Boris Johnson and Peter Beckingham Two senior figures in British politics were in Mumbai in January – Vince Cable, Cabinet Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, and Boris Johnson, The Mayor of London. They don’t […]
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