A few days ago we celebrated the Topping Out of our new building. We'll be moving in next year to a striking, modern Embassy designed to be green, energy efficient and pleasant to work in. Two greenhouses on site are already growing the thousands of plants that will cover the ground round the Embassy. 
Sitting high in a valley above central Tbilisi, the Embassy will be a visible reminder of our commitment to Georgia - and to ensuring that the British Government's carbon footprint is as light as possible, everywhere it falls.
I learned about a new element in Britain's work in Georgia the other day. One legacy of the Soviet Union was a secret biological institute in Kobuleti, full of scientists with nothing to do. With the help of British scientists, they are now emerging as a key centre for work on plant diseases, particularly in potatoes. They are starting to make a real contribution to Georgia's development and to food security in the region.
Security in the region more widely remains a problem. So I was glad recently we were able to work with Georgia and Russia to carry out a joint Open Skies overflight. David Miliband blogged about this the other day Building trust between estranged neighbours is one of the most difficult of Diplomatic tasks - but one of the most crucial.
Posted at 18:25 16 October 2009 by Denis Keefe | Comments[0]
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