Christopher O'Connor

Visit by HRH the Duke of York

This week I had the privilege to host a visit by His Royal Highness the Duke of York, his first in his capacity as UK Special Representative for Trade and Investment.

Part of the purpose was to underline the really significant links the UK and Tunisia have on energy. His Royal Highness visited the BG complex near Sfax, where a huge new plant is about to open. And in Tunis he spoke to the Secretary of State for Energy about expanding still further UK involvement in this sector. 

The Duke of York also wanted to explore opportunities for new activities in other sectors. When he asked the Prime Minister for suggestions he heard that the Tunisian government would appreciate more engagement from us on English teaching, IT and Financial services. I was pleased that the Tunisian Prime Minister's thinking was so close to our own. We had already arranged for the Duke of York to discuss with the British Council its efforts to support English teaching, and a session with Financial sector experts on how UK expertise can be brought to bear in Tunis. I need to find out a little more about the IT sector.

Posted at 18:37 22 May 2009 by Christopher O'Connor  |  Comments[2]

Working with the EU

I have just returned from a fascinating trip to Mahdia, a coastal city in southern Tunisia, with 14 other EU Ambassadors accredited to Tunisia. We often meet in Tunis to ensure we are working properly together where we need to. It is important we are on the same page on EU-Tunisian co-operation projects, progress on expanding the scope of the existing free trade arrangements and on wider political issues. And we all benefit from sharing insights and analysis.

But this was a rare opportunity to project our efforts jointly. Together we made quite a splash. Our countries represent over 70% of Tunisians imports and exports. And we had plenty of opportunity to explore how we can increase our involvement in this region of Tunisia, collectively or as individual countries. There is investment potential in Mahdia in tourism and. The government have some pretty ambitious development plans there.

The city also has a remarkable history as the capital of the Fatimid empire spreading across North Africa and beyond from the 11th century. There is a great deal about Tunisia that the many foreign visitors here tend to miss.

Posted at 19:13 18 May 2009 by Christopher O'Connor  |  Comments[1]

An Impressive British Investment

I have just returned from a visit to Sfax, Tunisia's second city. I was reminded that diplomacy tends to concentrate too much on capital cities. It is just as important to work with people outside the capital. We should do more of it.

I was also struck by the impact of the UK in this part of Tunisia. BG (British Gas) is soon to open a $1.4bn facility in partnership with the Tunisian oil and gas company ETAP. BG will then produce over half of Tunisia's gas needs, as well as some for export. The new installation has taken full advantage of technologies to reduce carbon emissions and found innovative ways to address other environmental issues, like turning unusable waste sulphur into usable sulphuric acid. BG's involvement in community projects from paving and roadbuliding to building local schools also helps raise British profile positively.

The Sfax Chamber of Commerce highlighted to me a range of opportunities for British companies to engage in new areas. They made a particularly compelling case on opportunities for English teaching.  I'd like to encourage more British companies to visit Sfax.

Posted at 12:51 01 May 2009 by Christopher O'Connor  |  Comments[0]

Partnership with the British Council

I had the good fortune last week to meet the British Council's senior managers from across the Near East and North Africa region. This dynamic group came together in Tunis to brainstorm new ways of promoting Britain through culture and education, and encouraging intercultural dialogue.

I was really struck by the way these leaders in cultural diplomacy had embraced innovation and how they had found ways to connect with the public in the contries they were operating in. Here in Tunis, British Council projects include vocational training for young people; efforts to help expand the ambitions of women at work; leadership through football coaching and a remarkable project to support root-and-branch change in English teaching in Tunisian schools.

This is of course is on top of the British Council's own English teaching and their work in partnership with the Embassy to offer Chevening scholarships   to exceptional young Tunisians wishing to study in the UK.

Posted at 14:05 27 April 2009 by Christopher O'Connor  |  Comments[0]

Reassurance for parents of English-speaking children in Tunis

The last couple of months have been turbulent ones for the only accredited school teaching in English here (the American Co-operative School in Tunis - ACST). Differences between the Tunisian tax authorities and the school over the school's tax status began last week to spark fears among the English-speaking community that the school might have to close. This would have had a major impact on the international community here. 

So I was much relieved when on Monday the Foreign and Finance Ministers jointly met with me and around 15 other ambassadors to reassure us about the future of the school. The message was clear: the school will not need to close and any differences of opinion will be resolved through diplomatic discussions.

Long live diplomacy!

Posted at 14:03 16 April 2009 by Christopher O'Connor  |  Comments[0]

Promoting business

In the current global economic climate, the work of Embassies to support the British economy has shot to the very top of our agenda. So I have been glad this last week to be able to help a group of Scottish business people identify new opportunities for business partnerships here.

The group was inspired by discussions last year with the Tunisian government and private sector on the energy sector. This is the sector in which the UK is strongest here, and it makes sense to build on that. Scottish Development International   brought to Tunisia experts in pipeline construction, deep water drilling, electricity production and the expanding areas of wind, wave and solar energy.

Beyond that they connected up other areas of business under the same umbrella, including architects specialising in energy-efficiency buildings, economic analysts able to forecast income in a climate of changing energy prices, vocational training experts and teachers of English in specialist areas. I had not thought of the energy sector including such a wide range of fields. I suspect some of those they met hadn't either.

During the visit it became strikingly clear that energy is a sector in which there is a great deal of change going on. That is particularly true of renewable energy sources. And where there is change there are always opportunities for business. Certainly the visitors appeared encouraged with their visit.

Posted at 17:43 07 April 2009 by Christopher O'Connor  |  Comments[1]

A week back in Britain

I am now writing from London, where Britain's ambassadors from all over the world are meeting to address the big international issues on the Foreign Policy agenda. Yesterday those of us posted in the Middle East and North Africa looked at the particular issues facing our region. The Foreign Secretary challenged us to think with "passion and pragmatism", and to aspire to a clear and positive vision for the region's future. The "23 state solution" to the Arab/Israel conflct needs to be at the heart of that. And it remains right at the top of our priorities.
 
Today we tackled the role of our Embassies around the world in responding to the global economic crisis. The Foreign Secretary again joined in energetically, this time with his full ministerial team as well as French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who injected a different perspective. No one disagreed that the crisis will affect every one of us and that every Embassy has a role to play in building consensus for an effective global response over many months to come.
 
The theme of the conference is "Bringing Foreign Policy home" and the difference between this and pervious gatherings is that we are talking to a much wider range of people in the UK. Tonight I met with NGO representatives. Tomorrow and Thursday I and my counterparts in Li bya, Algeria and Morocco will together meet academic experts on North Africa, North Africans living in London, and a large gathering of businesspeople with potential interest in the region. I then head to Reading to discuss with a group of young British Muslims their impressions of British Foreign Policy in the Middle East.

Posted at 15:19 25 March 2009 by Christopher O'Connor  |  Comments[0]

Beautiful spring week in Tunis

I noticed that Technocrati, an internet search engine for searching blogs, now indexes 112.8 million of them. I am starting my blog in the hope of hitting the 113 index and reaping the benefits of whatever that entails so here goes:

I am starting this blog one quarter of the way through my first year in Tunisia as Her Majesty's Ambassador. It is an honour to be appointed to this wonderful country and I really could not think of a more wide ranging and interesting job to be doing right now.

I won't bore you with the ups and downs of settling in, baggage and buying a new car, but will skip to the present. Blogs should be about what is happening right now.

It is a beautiful spring week in Tunis, with glorious sunshine hitting the ripples of the lake that I have as an office view. It is a glittering distraction from the in-box. But my aim is to do as much work as I can outside the office. That is where you learn about our environment and make an impact. And it is where you meet inspiring people. On Monday I hosted afternoon tea for a visiting group of Royal Chelsea pensioners. It was a humbling experience to hear what these brave men have achieved in their lives. And the energy and verve of those well into their eighties or beyond is impressive. More than one had been involved in one way or another in the 1942-3 North Africa campaign, so they were more briefing me than I was briefing them! I learned that the Royal Hospital Chelsea is embracing the equality agenda and now accommodating women. I wish the visitors a happy stay.

Monday ended with a chance to compare perspectives with some of my European counterparts and some insightful Tunisian guests over dinner. A similar occasion on Tuesday served as a window on the work of the African Development Bank (based here on a temporary basis, having moved from Cote D'Ivoire). These discussions, as always, are far more instructive than sifting through media reports or emails.

Wednesday has so far involved frustrations trying to get that car I promised not to bore you with but also the fun of planning a charity event where a visiting opera singer, Tracy Fehr will be performing to raise awareness and support for ACT, an NGO doing admirable work on community development in Tunisia. We have space and seats for 150 people. We have invited nearly 300. I am not sure what we will do if they all come.

The downside of the working week was a broken down visa system which created a backlog of work and dissatisfaction for our customers. My staff worked their hardest to get the system back up and running, so many thanks to them. And apologies to our customers for the delays and inconvenience. I do urge visa applicants to apply for visas as early as they can to avoid unforeseen disappointment.    

I'd better get back to concert planning, and to the next round of negotiations on that car !

Posted at 00:25 19 March 2009 by Christopher O'Connor  |  Comments[4]