Uzbekistan’s First Model G8

On Saturday, along with the Rector of Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT) and the Counsellor from the Russian Embassy, I was on the panel to judge the teams competing on a “Model G8” that the British Embassy’s Political and Public Diplomacy team organised in co-operation with WIUT. Sixteen students from top universities in Tashkent spent three weeks training and preparing for the event – each of the G8 countries was represented by a team of 2.

The subjects for discussion reflected the agenda for Britain’s G8 Presidency: trade, transparency and taxes. Those might sound quite dry, but they are important issues in setting the terms of global business in a way that’s fair to all, not least developing countries. The students, most of them studying business or economics, got really stuck in and showed off their detailed knowledge. In several of the preparatory meetings they came up with questions that my colleagues and I struggled to answer.

The participants worked hard to prepare for Saturday’s event, while fully occupied during teaching hours with their university studies. They researched the positions of the countries they were to represent, including through meetings with representatives of those countries in Tashkent; they learned negotiations skills; and they carried out the preliminary negotiations for a summit agreement on action to ensure that taxes are fairly paid by multi-national or transnational companies.

My own closest contact with the real G8 was as Consul General in St Petersburg in 2006 when the G8, under Russian Presidency, was held in one of the restored palaces outside the city. My memory is of frequent trips to the airport, to meet our sherpas (the senior officials who prepare the way to the summit – I don’t know when the term started to be used, but it’s clearly a mountaineering joke), the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, the Speaker of Parliament, the Chancellor, and finally the Prime Minister; of frantic work beforehand to ensure the Prime Minister’s team had all the technology they needed for communications with the UK and rapid production of papers for the PM; of accompanying the Prime Minister’s wife to meet a group of local NGO representatives; of periods waiting in the “cottage” where the delegation stayed (“cottage” because in fact it was a large and luxurious guest house) while the delegation were at meetings, followed by manic activity when they returned; and huge relief when the Prime Minister’s aircraft took off and it was all over. The main issues on the agenda were energy security and education, but the formal agenda was over-shadowed by violence in the Middle East.

The model Summit was a great success. All the teams made excellent presentations and pulled their weight in the final negotiation session that followed. Despite working in a language – English – that wasn’t their own, the participants were coherent and clear even when talking about some very technical issues to do with taxes and transparency; and they showed some strong negotiating skills, defending their positions against sharp opposition from other delegations. There was a tense moment towards the end when it wasn’t clear whether all the delegations would accept the final statement, but co-operation triumphed and the document was agreed and signed.

All of the participants can be proud of the work they did, in research and preparation, in presenting their positions and in negotiating – live and in front of an audience. In a few years’ time I’m sure some of them will be representing Uzbekistan in international negotiations. I hope they’ll look back on this as useful experience.