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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
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Good English – A Key to Panama’s Future Success
21st March 2024
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22nd January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Foreign and Defence Secretaries attend high level AUKMIN meeting in Perth
Foreign Secretary William Hague, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond and a team of senior officials and military were in Perth for the annual Australia-UK Ministerial meeting, AUKMIN, last week. They had wide-ranging discussions, including Asia, Indian Ocean and Defence reform, as well as talking about the UN Security Council, which Australia has just joined for the […]
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21st January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Turkey and the EU: Impressions from Eastern Anatolia
A guest blog by Peter Spoor, Head Press and Projects Team at the British Embassy in Ankara, Turkey My first impression on exiting the airport departure lounge is intense cold. I’m in Erzurum, where winter temperatures can drop below minus 25 degrees. I’m in town with colleagues from the Turkish EU Ministry to make the […]
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21st January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Busy January…
The first weeks of 2013 were some of the busiest ever for our Embassy. Here are just a few of the highlights, which show the wide variety of our work. G8 1st January marked the start of the UK G8 Presidency, which I blogged about last week. We created a twitter account @G8 for anyone […]
19th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
On events in Algeria
The Foreign Office’s Minister Alistair Burt called Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean earlier this evening to express the British Government’s sincere condolences on the death of a Romanian citizen who was confirmed among the casualties of the terrorist attack in Algeria. I would like to add my own heartfelt condolences to his family and to […]
18th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
How to make stuff with less energy – or, how Turkey can import less gas
This January figures were published showing that Turkish gas imports had hit an all-time high. So the timing of the UK-Turkey Knowledge Partnership Conference at the British Consulate General in Istanbul on 17 January to examine Energy and Resource Efficiency in Manufacturing could not have been better. Turkey is an increasingly important research and manufacturing […]
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18th January 2013 New Delhi, India
Understanding climate change: working together
Last week I visited the Indian Institute for Science where a distinguished delegation of academics from Imperial College London were holding a joint workshop organised by the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial and the Divecha Centre for Climate Change at IISc Bangalore. Aside from a fabulous lunch up in the trees of IISc’s […]
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17th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Holy See: Global and Local
It is often said that the Holy See is a hybrid of the global and the local. This is true. On the one hand, its global diplomatic network reaches into every corner of the world through its Apostolic Nuncios (Holy See ambassadors) to the capillary branches of bishops, priests, religious and lay people that make […]
17th January 2013 Budapest, Hungary
A night at the circus
I went to the circus for the first time in ages this weekend – taking my family with me. We had great fun. The acts were good and there were no scary clowns! And the place was absolutely full so the atmosphere was excellent. Quite apart from the content of the show, what made a […]
16th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Transforming our Understanding of Trade
Today saw the launch of a very significant new initiative by the OECD and WTO, called Trade in Value Added, or TiVA. Why is it attracting so much attention? Don’t we already have statistics on trade? We do, but the the way we’ve looked at trade statistics for years no longer necessarily reflects the way […]
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16th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
How to do business in Turkey – and Britain
How can British companies best approach the Turkish market? Which sectors are most promising? Are there case studies? What on-line services are available? You can find the answers to all these questions and more in the splendid UK Trade and Investment in Turkey brochure. This includes: A summary of services which UKTI can provide to […]
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