17th March 2016 Hanoi, Vietnam
Although I sometimes watch cookery contests like Master Chef on TV, I never imagined I would take part in one. But life is full of surprises. And on Monday, instead of chairing the usual start-the-week meeting at the Embassy, I was at Hanoi’s famous Metropole Hotel rolling up my sleeves, putting on an apron, and […]
Read more on GREAT British Food and Drinks Festival in Vietnam | Reply (2)
13th January 2016 Hanoi, Vietnam
First of all, let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a healthy and successful New Year. “Chuc mung nam moi”! For my first blog of 2016 I thought I’d try something a little different so I invited Nguyen Ngoc Lan, a student at the Hanoi Law University, to share this blog with me. Lan […]
9th November 2015 Hanoi, Vietnam
The UK and Vietnam don’t have much in the way of shared history. Sometimes that makes my job harder; sometimes easier. But last week, an all-star cast gathered in Hanoi – the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy, Lord Puttnam; the Vietnamese Minister and Vice Minister of Justice; a former British High Court judge; and most of […]
17th September 2015 Hanoi, Vietnam
Tuesday was International Day of Democracy, and the global theme chosen by the UN was “Making Space for Civil Society”. We took this literally, and made some space at my house in Hanoi for civil society representatives and activists to come and talk about the changing landscape for civil society in Vietnam, the opportunities and […]
13th November 2014 Singapore
This guest blog is the first in a series of four by Peter Mumford, SE Asia Regional Director, Economic & Trade Policy, based at the British High Commission in Singapore. In this series, Peter shares his experience working on economic and trade policy projects in South East Asia, and also his views on where further […]
Read more on Supporting Financial Sector Reform and Integration in ASEAN | Reply
15th October 2014 Singapore
By Claire Lewis & Le Thi Ngoc Bich, Climate Change Attaché, Vietnam. It’s been a busy few weeks for our colleagues in Vietnam. From ASEAN-wide International Negotiators training in Hanoi to the launch of the Greenhouse Gas Inventories workshops in London, to the development of a 2050 Calculator tool; there has been a lot to […]
Read more on How the UK is helping Vietnam to progress its Climate Change Policy | Reply (1)
1st October 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
I don’t get much time to read any books of my own these days. With two young children, most of the literature that comes my way tends either to have sparkly shapes, no more than about 10 words a page or contain clearly accessible lessons in morality. Which makes them the exact opposite of Human […]