Jim Murphy

A day of two presidents (part one)

I'm just leaving Azerbaijan after a short visit here and I'm on my way to Georgia. Barely had time to sleep after landing early this morning before beginning a whirlwind set of meetings.

I honestly didn't know what to expect from Azerbaijan - it's not a place you hear about everyday. What I did know was that it was at the very edge of the map of Europe which hangs above my desk in the office!

Some people might ask why the UK has anything to do with Azerbaijan. Well, in purely economic terms it is important with sales of oil and gas amounting to almost 1.5 billion USD a month.It's annual growth rate in recent years has been over 25%, making it the world's fastest growing economy. It is also another secular predominantly muslim country working with the UK and others on some of the big challenges facing the world today. They have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On a visit like this I make a point of meeting people with diverging opinions and interests so, alongside experts from the energy industry, I met human rights defenders, political analysts, journalists, the Deputy Foreign Minister and the President. All before lunch and catching a flight to Tbilisi, Georgia, and then back to London tonight!

I was particularly glad to be able to visit the Children's Neurological Hospital in Baku where a UK-Azeri charity, United Aid For Azerbaijan (UAFA), has worked for ten years to deliver amazing transformation to the healthcare of developmentally disadvantaged children. Despite the constraints of the soviet-style premises, Gwen Burchell and her team have made a real difference to the lives of so many children and their families. I am pleased that the Azeri government takes an interest in this work. We will continue to support projects like this in Azerbaijan to ensure that the current period of investment and development benefits society in the most important ways.

Posted at 14:14 07 May 2008 by Jim Murphy  |  Comments[1]