The Delegation to Indonesia provided the opportunity to encourage broader understanding of UK interests among Indonesian counterparts, including enhancing prospects for trade, investment and international cooperation; for UK Parliamentarians to better appreciate Indonesia’s achievements as a robust parliamentary democracy.
The British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (BGIPU) hosted a parliamentary delegation from Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) from 26-29 June 2012. Overall, the key message of the delegation was that there was broad agreement among the various political groups in BiH, including across all ethnic constituencies, but that they must quickly and cooperatively address sensitive issues around identity and ethnic differences by pursuing effective constitutional reform.
Mr Zayar Thaw MP, National League for Democracy (NLD) member of the Burmese Parliament and Mr Nay Chi Win, a Communications Adviser with the NLD, were welcomed to the Parliament on 25 June 2012 by the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (BGIPU).
At an event to mark the State Opneing of Parliament FCO Minister, Alistair Burt MP, noted that the work of the BGIPU involved close and continuing support from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He said it was vital that we support each other’s work and the FCO fully recognised the valuable role played by parliamentarians in enhancing dialogue and cooperation between nations.
From the 9th to 15th of April 2012 a delegation of five parliamentarians travelled to South Sudan as representatives of the Associate Parliamentary Group for Sudan and South Sudan, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development, and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The delegation was accompanied by an expert in agricultural development, Dr. Guy Poulter, Senior Fellow at the National Resources Institute.
The 126th Assembly took place in Kampala, Uganda 31 March – 5 April 2012. The British Delegation comprised 8 Members and was led by Robert Walter MP, Chairman of the Biritsh Group.
The aim of this delegation was to gain an understanding of Mexican issues in this election year, discuss trade, development, human rights and environmental issues, including energy and climate change. The delegation was very keen to understand the Federal nature of Mexico and thus travelled outside Mexico City to the State of Puebla. The delegation found this to be a very successful visit for all involved.
The Delegation to Morocco provided an opportunity or UK Parliamentarians to witness first hand changes effected in Morocco by the Arab Spring, the new Constitution and meet the new Parliamentarians elected to the House of Representatives in November 2011. The delegation met with the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament, the Moroccan investment agency and the British Council, among others.
The most important words uttered at the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness came from Lee Myung-bak, the President of the Republic of Korea. Fifty years ago when he was a child and Korea was a war ravaged country, it needed aid. Today it’s the 13th largest economy in the world, the second fastest growing economy in the OECD and an aid donor. That single statement confirms that despite the complexity of aid, despite the myriad cultures, despite the challenges that are presented from clean water to conflict to corruption, aid works.
Our visit to Alamar was one of the highlights of the trip to Cuba. It is an example of how the country has moved away, be necessity, from large scale agriculture on state farms which relied heavily on imported inputs on to a smaller scale system that is more organic and offers real food security. It consists of 25 hectares and is a non state co operative established some 14 years ago.
