Focusing on developing future ties between UK and Tunisia

Below is a transcript of my first video blog. You can view my video by visiting our Facebook page.

Assalamu Alaikom!

I am pleased to be here in green Tunisia. It is such a privilege to be here in such an important time of Tunisia’s history. Britain and Tunisia share a long history. On the wall here in my office is a copy of a treaty signed by the two countries in 1662. This shared past is important yet my mission here in Tunisia focuses on the future of this partnership.

If you’ll forgive me, I will now continue in English.

As I was saying we have very historic ties with Tunisia and those ties are important, but what I want to concentrate now is the future of our relations. That future is very promising, just as there has been a transformation in Tunisia since the revolution so too there has been a transformation in the relations between Britain and Tunisia.

I can see that in the embassy in which I work where there are nearly twice as many British diplomats as there were in 2011 with more to come. We now have development programmes working in a number of very important sectors including media training, including political participation, including boosting economic growth in Tunisia.

We’re using our role as Britain in a variety of international organisations: the EU, the World Bank, the UN, the IMF – to do what we can to be a strong advocated of Tunisia and its transition. We are doing that because Britain is a strong friend of Tunisia and is committed to helping Tunisia and its people in the process of democratic and political transition.

No transition is ever easy. We are conscious that there will be challenges: economic, security, political; but we as Britain are committed to working with you to meet those challenges and to make the transition a success.

And as well as our commercial relations, I am very keen to develop the people to people links between our two countries – whether culture, sport, education, tourism – there  are so many links that unite our peoples and I would like to develop them further.

I am very pleased in that respect that the number of British tourists coming to Tunisia since 2011 is increasing rapidly.

I am also very conscious of the enormous appetite there is particularly among young people to learn English and I am delighted that the British council is playing such an important role in meeting that demand and we in the embassy will be supporting them to take that forward.

There is so much to do, but first, I look forward to learning more about Tunisia and meeting its people. Shukran.