27th September 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
One after another, top British companies take the podium in a room full of Turkish construction companies. Each sets out world-class expertise in everything from design, construction and communications to steel, advanced engineering, security, training and sports services. Other speakers include the British Ambassador to Turkmenistan, Keith Allan; Sefa Gomdeniz, Chair of the Turkey-Turkmenistan Business Council; […]
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9th August 2012
Islamabad, Pakistan
When visiting my regular family summer holiday spot in North Wales each year as a child, it was unimaginable that one day I would be taking my first (and hopefully not my last) summer holiday in the Baltistan region of Pakistan. Since arriving on my diplomatic posting to Pakistan earlier this year at the British […]
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30th May 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Can one be an optimist about Ukraine? When I visited the UK recently I was invited to visit the central office of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB) in Notting Hill to meet members of the Association and to give a short talk. A couple of people have told me they enjoyed the […]
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28th May 2012
London, UK
You’ve seen the photographs of the Prime Ministers outside the door of Number 10 Downing Street. But after the politicians and cameras have left, what does it add up to? I’m one of the behind-the-scenes people in London and Islamabad. You won’t see any of us in the photos, but we’re the ones who made […]
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27th April 2012
Washington DC, USA
Last night I hosted an event for former Marshall Scholars at the Embassy with a brilliant talk by Jeff Rosen on Google, the internet, and privacy. This is of course a hot topic at the moment – for the public, for Governments, for NGOs and for businesses. I’ve also got a keen interest in it as […]
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4th April 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Guest blog by Major Kirsty Baxter, Assistant Military Attaché Kyiv There is an explosion; then we hear the screams for help. Quickly we turn and jog back down the path. Our group of military attachés and Ukrainian officers find a badly injured sergeant, his foot blown off by a mine booby-trap. As he begs for […]
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22nd March 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I am frequently alerted by commercial contacts to difficulties with the Ukrainian business environment; and have often blogged on this subject. So it was interesting to hear from a leading independent economist recently the view that there had been some progress on macroeconomic reform recently. The economist said this had included: – The 2011 Pension reform […]
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29th February 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I blogged recently about what needed to happen before the Association Agreement and linked Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) could begin to work for Ukraine. At the end of that blog, I noted some suggestions that, if it wasn’t possible to sign and ratify the Association Agreement, it might be possible for some […]
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23rd February 2012
Islamabad, Pakistan
I began my career as a journalist on Egypt’s Al-Ahram Weekly newspaper, spending two years living on a house-boat in the heart of Cairo and reporting on the Middle East. In 2002 I joined the UK civil service. Before the Foreign Office, I was a Senior Policy Advisor in the Cabinet Office, covering Russia, Georgia […]
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14th February 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Last week the embassy hosted a reception to celebrate the fact that the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games this summer in London will be the greenest and most sustainable ever. I was pleased to welcome not only the President of the Ukrainian Paralympics Committee Valeriy Sushkevych, the General Secretary of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee Volodymyr […]
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