Now that the the G8 meetings in Lough Erne have finished, the focus of international media coverage is turning to what has been agreed and achieved by the G8. The Lough Erne Declaration begins with the statement that “Private enterprise drives growth, reduces poverty, and creates jobs and prosperity for people around the world.

Governments have a special responsibility to make proper rules and promote good governance. Fair taxes, increased transparency and open trade are vital drivers of this.” The Declaration then lists 10 actions to be taken to achieve positive change on the threefold trade, tax and transparency G8 agenda under the UK Presidency.

Translating international declarations into action that actually makes a difference on the ground is always a challenge. But it is possible, and in this case will require not just G8 leaders, but all global leaders, to play a part. A recent example from El Salvador is illustrative of positive action that can be taken by non G8 governments to achieve greater transparency, one of the key G8 themes.

Earlier this month, El Salvador became part of the Construction Sector Transparency (CoST) Initiative. CoST was initiated by the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) in 2007, and seeks to help participating countries improve the value for money spent on the construction of public infrastructure, through greater transparency.

CoST estimates that more than $4 trillion is lost each year through mismanagement, inefficiency, and corruption in public construction – on average 10-30% of a project’s value. These losses clearly have a negative effect on the quality and safety of projects, as well as a country’s prospects for economic growth and development.

Agreement being signed between CoST and the Salvadoran Ministry of Public Works (Photo credit: CoST)

On El Salvador joining CoST, Salvadoran Minister of Public Works Gerson Martinez signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that commits the Ministry of Public Works to disclose information on at least 3 high profile construction projects over the next 18 months. The programme may then be expanded to other public investment projects, and the Ministry has agreed to establish group with the participation of the private sector and civil society, to lead the development of CoST in El Salvador.

This is a great example of the G8 transparency agenda in action – using an initiative that was started in the UK, but has now become international, to support a non-G8 government seeking to improve transparency for growth and prosperity.

At the G8 meeting in Northern Ireland yesterday, the EU and US embarked on the biggest trade deal ever negotiated. Despite the rise of the economies of Asia, the EU and the US remain the two giants of the world economy, accounting for half the world’s GDP between them. The US invests three times more in the EU than it does in all of Asia. The trade between the EU and US is enormous – flows in goods and services amount to $2.7 billion a day.

But it is not growing fast enough.

Between 2000 and 2011 EU exports to the US grew by just 1% a year, compared to 7.6% globally. We’ve done a lot to reduce tariff barriers between the EU and US. In general they are less than 3%. So the next stage is to tackle the much more difficult and complex non-tariff barriers to trade, to release a new wave of growth in EU-US trade.

That means looking at our regulatory systems to make them more compatible. And in doing so to set the terms for world trade in the decades ahead.

The European Commission estimates that this Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could add another 0.5% to GDP growth in Europe. That is badly needed at a time when growth is flat. And the value of this deal goes beyond pure economics.

The US and European states have been strong allies for global security since the foundation of NATO in 1949. Now we need to pull together to promote global prosperity in the decade ahead. In the UK this week, US and European leaders are rising to that challenge.

The leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) are gathered in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland this week for the 39th Summit of the Group, to address global economic and international security issues together.

As it does every eight years, the United Kingdom holds the presidency this year. Before I go into the elements of what is being discussed by the leaders of the UK, US, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia, I’d like to reflect on how apt it is, when we are collectively driving for change towards greater security and prosperity, that Northern Ireland – with its troubled past – is the host for the summit, and just how far this beautiful part of the UK has come over the past two decades.

Today, Northern Ireland is flourishing in every respect. I for one have been deeply impressed by how much it has to offer when Ministers from Northern Ireland have visited the UAE. For example, did anyone know that the carpeting for much of the Burj Al Arab is from Ulster? And Derry-Londonderry has been chosen as the first ever UK city of culture.

Now to the summit itself – the priorities for this presidency can be simplified as the “3 Ts”: taxes, transparency and trade. While on the surface these issues might appear dull, they are actually of pivotal importance to the global economy and global governance. Essentially in choosing these as focal points, the UK prime minister, David Cameron, is making clear that the positive impacts of non-aid policies are just as important for development, if not more. And through these, the UK has written some truly practical concerns into the heart of the G8 agenda.

So, a bit more on the 3 Ts:

First, ensuring tax compliance. This is about taking firm action against tax evasion and avoidance that will allow countries to collect the tax that is due to them. Without such action, governments will not be able to provide services to improve citizens’ lives – be it in education, health or anything else. And clamping down in one or just a few countries simply won’t work, as the cash will just move elsewhere – which is why international rules and standards need to be strengthened.

Second, promoting greater transparency. Here we are talking about making progress on mandatory reporting of payments by companies. It’s imperative that citizens know how much revenue their governments are getting from business and should be able to hold them to account on how that money is being used. In particular, we are driving for more transparency in mining, oil and gas, so that people in developing countries can see how their mineral wealth is being used, and so that all companies, wherever they’re from – Europe, America, Asia – are competing on a level playing field.

And, finally, advancing trade. Trade is key to economic growth and job creation and so a key feature of the summit is a commitment to reduce trade barriers and highlight the benefits of liberalisation.

For example, the free trade agreement between the US and EU could add as much as £10 billion (Dh57 billion) to the UK economy. In this respect I’m pleased that trade is a fundamental cornerstone of the UK-UAE relationship and that we are on track to meet the joint aim of reaching bilateral trade of £12bn by 2015.

Exactly a week ago, Mr Cameron gave a speech from the London Gateway in Essex. This was particularly important for me because of the huge collaboration between the UK and the UAE through the investment by Dubai Ports World into creating the largest deep-sea container port and logistics park in northern Europe.

The UK and UAE are trading nations whose prosperity depends on the maintenance of global peace and security. That is why G8 leaders will also want to focus on stability around the world, including the Middle East. Through the Deauville Partnership, the UK and the UAE, along with others, are committed to helping the transition countries of Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan on the priorities of supporting SMEs, asset recovery and women’s participation in business.

The other regional issue being discussed in depth is Syria. Britain, along with France, the UAE and other countries, will continue to help the Syrian opposition. There has to be negotiation and a transitional government. That is the only way to get peace, stability for Syria and greater security for the region. So, we will continue with those policies, and continue working very closely with countries like the UAE, who share our analysis of just how damaging and dangerous the current situation in Syria is.

In my eyes, the benefits of action in all these areas are clearly not just for the G8 economies but the entire globe – which is, let’s be honest, struggling to achieve prosperity and security for its people.

The UK prime minister’s hope is that change in these critical areas will help lead to lasting change around the globe – just as we have seen in Northern Ireland after years of conflict. I for one will be watching closely.

G8 Presidency on Twitter: @G8 or follow #G8UK

The Group of Eight (almost universally abbreviated to G8) is an unofficial forum for the leaders of the world’s eight wealthiest countries – at the time of writing, these were Canada, France, Germany Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The Presidency of the G8 rotates every year, and 2013 sees the UK take the helm and hence set the agenda for the main meeting (held in Lough Erne on 17-18 June). The key themes for this year will be:

• Tax – ensuring compliance and making sure that everything is done fairly
• Trade – advancing trade between nations
• Transparency – promoting free and open governance

You can read all about the UK’s G8 Presidency and the themes for this year at GOV.UK.

From a scientific perspective, the most interesting theme here is transparency. Not due to the fight against bribery, corruption and cronyism (which is hugely important), but due to the increasing promotion of open data. SIN Officer Alexandra Weirich wrote about this in a previous blog post – in brief, the vast amounts of data that governments produce should be made freely accessible to all so that it may be used to further the public interest and increase accountability.

The UK has enthusiastically adopted the open data model, creating the Open Data Institute and Data Strategy Board and releasing new datasets on the data.gov.uk website under the Open Government Licence. The availability of this data allows people to build new data-driven applications for public benefit, check whether policy interventions are having their intended effect and simply analyse or mash the data up to create interesting infographics or articles. Part of the transparency initiative at the G8 will push countries to make more data freely available to citizens, in open formats and able to be compared to other countries’ data.

The UK government also recently commissioned Stephan Shakespeare, Chair of the Data Strategy Board, to conduct an independent review of public sector information and make recommendations on opportunities for growth and widening access. The recommendations centred on ensuring that data is released quickly and in interoperable formats, and that the capacity is there to take advantage of any opportunities. The government published its official response to the Review last week, accepting the challenge and setting out plans to formulate a National Data Strategy as part of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) National Action Plan.

This flurry of activity around open data and open access in scientific publishing (which we also wrote about recently) can only enhance international cooperation in the sciences – from combining newly-available datasets to developing new services to studying the effects on democracy itself, the UK is open for collaboration.

I spend some of my time considering the state of civil society in Belarus, as a measure of the political and social health of the country.  Is it flourishing?  Does it have “space” to grow?  Is the government responding to the concerns raised by civil society?

I’m struck by how elusive it is to define the term civil society. While diplomats and academics use the term quite a lot, we don’t always agree on what it covers. In diplomacy, clarity of meaning matters. It’s no good negotiating texts of agreements, if the parties to the agreement don’t understand the words or phrases being used. 

But sometimes there are ideas or concepts that are complicated to explain, so we use a short hand term.  Civil society is probably one of those terms. 

Samuel Johnson would think it referred to a group of people being polite to one another (“civil = courteous and polite”, and “society = being in the company of other people”).  But he lived before sociology, or the “study of human society”, had even been invented. 

Over time, “society” has come to mean the aggregation, or sum, of people living together in a community.  “Civil” came from the French language, and before that Latin.  It means relating to ordinary citizens and their concerns.  In Roman times, civil was a way of distinguishing ordinary people from others, usually those in the Roman army (this sense of the word came to be covered by “civilian”). 

The idea of division changed over time, and it seems, different languages developed different usages.  In English, in medieval times, civil came to differentiate between those who worked in the state, and those who worked in the Church.  (This is why I am a “civil servant” – I serve a civil or “temporal” power, as opposed to a religious or spiritual power.) 

“Civil society” is a more recent idea.  Hegel seems to have been the first to use the term to differentiate between society and “the state”.  His ideas influenced many others including Marx, but no one definition of what is civil society clearly emerged.  There is a common theme that civil society isn’t the government or state structures.  But that’s where agreement seems to end. 

The term is used regularly now, largely as a result of the challenges of the nation state from globalisation and the rapid exchange of information via the internet.  But defining still remains a problem.  Even the great minds of the World Bank have come up with a definition that is long and not especially illuminating.

In Russian «гражданское общество» («грамадзянская супольнасць» in Belarusian) usually means all non-state organisations that are pursuing interests of independent groups or individuals within a society.

I think the problem of definition stems from the inherent idea of what is civil society.  It will vary widely according to circumstance and the state or country within which it exists.  The nature and interests of civil society in Darfur, a sparsely populated, semi-desert region where the people survive on subsistence agriculture, is very different from the civil society in post-industrial, temperate densely populated Britain.  But the common theme is that the civil society is not of the state or its organs. 

While defining what constitutes civil society varies from place to place, its health is important.  A state that nurtures and encourages the development of the civil society within its borders, will be more responsive to the needs, aspirations and expression of its citizens. 

Civil society can, and frequently does, irritate politicians and policy makers.  But that’s its role – to represent the views and interests of groups within society on many issues that can’t simply be decided by a central government.  

In Britain, civil society organisations and the media question constantly the decisions and policies of government.  Currently, organisations are lobbying the government over such issues as plans to construct a new high-speed rail link between London and North-West England, the introduction of a tax on financial transactions, and to reduce overall level of taxes. 

Such is the development of civil society in Britain, that the government wants to harness the energy of civil society organisations, so they are more involved in the running of public services.  For what the state can’t provide, maybe civil society organisations can fill the gap. 

That’s why I and my colleagues take a close look at the health of civil society in Belarus and in other countries around the world.

As the three-week session came to a close on Friday evening, delegates looked each other in the eye with weary emotion and asked how was it for you? The general mood seemed to be that it had been a good session but that the earth didn’t move.

Getting through Council sessions is as much a test of stamina as anything else. Yes, some human rights knowledge, negotiating skills, and a bit of procedural know-how come in handy, but if you want to survive the long-slog of a session, you need endurance. Fortunately, diplomats seem to have it by the bucket-load. I’m considering a sponsorship side venture for the next session and getting endorsements for different delegations from batteries, energy drinks and manufacturers of little blue pills.

Voting on the last couple of days was a typically tense business. Anyone who has been around a while will tell you that one of the main tricks of the trade if you’re leading a resolution is to get it adopted as early as possible. The longer you have to wait, the greater the likelihood that at the last minute, someone will want to unpick a delicate comprise that you’ve spent weeks putting together. So my colleague Ian, who had a tougher session than most people, did particularly well to guide the Syria resolution home with a strong victory margin as the session’s final resolution.

This was the tenth resolution the Council has passed on Syria and it condemned the continuing gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity  being committed. It also called on the the Assad regime to grant urgently needed humanitarian access, which it continues to deny to the area of al-Qusayr.  During the adoption of the resolution, many countries stressed the importance of the Geneva II meeting and the political track as the only way of ending the crisis and stopping the bloodshed.

The Council adopted a consensual text on Burma, drawing attention to the recent violence against Muslims in the country, with a particular focus on the situation of the Rohingya minority. The Rohingya have lived under extremely harsh restrictions on all aspects of their lives for decades and are denied citizenship rights. Burma’s engagement on the adopted statement was a positive step, but Burma should be prepared for tougher measures if it doesn’t take steps to investigate and stop violations against the Rohingya. The resolution on Belarus passed by a much bigger margin than last year, with only three Council members opposed. The high number of countries voting in favour of criticising Belarus should add international pressure and will hopefully lead to Belarus easing the harsh restrictions it has opposed on human rights defenders and political prisoners. Venezuela’s no vote was not a surprise, given its hard-line opposition to country resolutions, and nobody realistically expected Kazakhstan, as regional allies, to vote any other way. But India’s opposition was a bit harder to fathom, and more should be expected of the world’s biggest democracy, when addressing a country with such an abysmal record on civil and political freedoms. 

The main let down of the session, and the reason it won’t go down as historic, was that the resolution on sexual orientation proved to be the dog that didn’t bark. For the many supporters of a resolution from both states and civil society, the lack of a resolution this session has been a distressing setback, but one that can be overcome provided the Council takes up the issue in the near future. No doubt the way forward will be the topic of many a conversation in Geneva and the outside world before the next session in September.

Hip hop artist and former child soldier runs a workshop inside the Luminarium

The main talking point outside the Council room was the UK-sponsored Luminarium – a walk-through art installation using natural light to create a space to discus and reflect on human rights. The closing ceremony, on the last day of the Council, was a mass recital of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in over 20 languages. It proved particularly moving as guests observed a minute’s silence in tribute to Monica Ross, the artist behind the project who had died that morning. The recital reminded many present of what a groundbreaking document the Universal Declaration remains, and how much further we must go to make its provisions a reality. 

For many Council die-hards, this will be their last session as Geneva braces itself for another sad summer exodus. I’ve lost count of how many great colleagues I’ve bid a fond farewell to over the years. One of the oddities of my own position as a locally employed adviser is that I stay on while others pass through Geneva’s shores. It’s a bit like being the eternally youthful Christopher Lambert character in Highlander, only in my case, as my wife pointed out, my hair looks greyer each summer. So cheerio to Ana, Balazs, Casey, Elio, Etika, Geir, Hanna, Kai, Maria, Nicole, Oz, Piret, Raphael, Sally, Tanja, Timo, Vlad and anyone else leaving. You’ve all made your mark on the Council and I wish you well. But you haven’t got my staying power.

On the 12 of June we celebrated the birthday of Her Majesty the Queen with a big party. As is customary on these occasions, I made a speech which concentrated on the UK’s relationship with Sudan and our role here.

Here are some of things I said:

“The historical ties between the UK and Sudan are deep and longstanding. Many of the institutions of Sudan, its universities, legal system and administrations still reflect their UK heritage. The personal and educational links between our two countries remain strong. Many Sudanese have trained or worked in the UK and hold British passports.

There remains among many Sudanese an astounding thirst to learn or better their English, which we are doing our best to quench. Last year the British Council trained 1,000 teachers of English in government schools who in turn taught 200,000 students. If the programme can be rolled out to all 17 states it will impact 5 million students per year.

At the same time, the situation of many ordinary people is desperate. They are the victims of conflict, whose livelihoods have been destroyed. We are – and will remain – one of the largest humanitarian donors in Sudan. It is not in the British character to walk away from our friends when they need our help.

We all know the huge challenges facing Sudan. Building a peaceful and productive relationship with South Sudan is clearly in the interests of both countries, as Presidents Bashir and Kiir have acknowledged. But it is also complex. There will inevitably be setbacks. We are at a particularly critical time at the moment. We congratulate both countries for what they have achieved so far and encourage them to keep going.

Neither country should support rebel movements in the other. Where there are grievances or complaints they should be handled by the bodies set up by the Addis agreements for exactly this purpose.

The UK, together with others, has played a role throughout this process, and will continue to do so, reminding both sides that they signed the Addis agreements because there is no other route to peace and prosperity for them both,  helping to build trust and to find practical solutions to problems as they arise.

Similarly, we stand ready to help find solutions to internal conflict. Sudan has been at war with itself virtually since its inception. The Constitution describes Sudan as “an all-embracing homeland where religions and cultures are sources of strength, harmony and inspiration.” We want to support Sudan to realise that vision.

 For that to happen people need to be allowed space to articulate and develop their ideas, to speak and to associate freely, to bring their own regional, religious and ethnic perspectives to bear; in short to enjoy the political and civic rights to which Sudan is committed both in its international  engagements and its Constitution.

These are not rights that can be secured or denied long term by violence.  The UK condemns armed conflict to secure political ends, from whatever quarter.  We support the many Sudanese who want to see a peaceful resolution of conflict and who advocate a national dialogue to address the issues facing the country. There is no other way to secure a successful and prosperous future for Sudan and its people.  Whilst this process is allowed to take its course we call for full, unconstrained access to those in need of relief.

Meanwhile, the UK is helping to put in place the building blocks for sustainable development in Sudan.  We are already actively engaged in supporting the development of the armed services and the police.  In the last six months, we helped secure significant support to improve the quality of education in Sudan.  We are working with the British Council, and private sector sponsors on a major programme to encourage young entrepreneurs.  And we are finalising the arrangements for investments in water and sanitation in the East of Sudan and in Darfur. 

We want to do more – and will if the operating environment allows. Over the next year, we will be setting out how we propose to complement essential but unsustainable humanitarian relief with programmes that build the resilience of local communities:  moving people from being dependent on food hand outs to being food secure. 

This will include a programme of support for deepening democracy in Sudan, including contributing to preparations for successful elections in 2015.  We will set out our plans for helping to strengthen the private sector in Sudan, building the prosperity that is necessary if Sudan is to deliver poverty reduction and to graduate from aid. 

Sudan faces major challenges. But it has the means to deal with them, if the will is there.  We will continue to work with and for the people of Sudan for as long as we and they believe we can help Sudan move in the right direction.

G8 logo with Lough Erne, Northern Ireland

In an exchange of letters on the eve of the Lough Erne G8 Summit, Pope Francis and Prime Minister David Cameron have shared detailed analysis of what needs to be done to tackle the economic and political challenges faced by the world today.

The Prime Minister took the initiative to inform the Pope on 5 June of the agenda for Britain’s G8 Presidency. Responding to Pope Francis’s eloquent arguments in homilies, messages and speeches since his election about the need to rebalance the global economy, help the poor and disadvantaged, and find people work, David Cameron noted that these priorities were shared by the UK. “I am determined”, David Cameron wrote, “that our G8 agenda will lead to real benefits for the global economy and will help people in developed and developing countries alike … by restoring strong and sustainable growth to the world economy by practical action on fairer taxes, freer trade, and greater global transparency”. He called on governments, business and faiths to “travel together” for good governance and justice, poverty alleviation and economic growth that promotes social inclusion.

Pope Francis replied on 15 June to welcome Britain’s efforts to ensure that “attention to the human person” remains at the heart of our global political and economic efforts. The Pope insisted that “concern for the fundamental material and spiritual welfare of every human person is the starting-point for every political and economic solution and the ultimate measure of its effectiveness and its ethical validity”. And, echoing a phrase used frequently by David Cameron looking at the post-2015 international development agenda, Pope Francis recognised the significance of respect for the law, transparency and government responsibility as “the golden thread of development” for the future.

What is striking about the exchange is not so much that Prime Minister and Pope agree on so much – though there is that – but its universality. The Prime Minister wrote to the Pope before Lough Erne because the United Kingdom recognises that the Pope speaks like no other world leader to a global constituency, Catholic and non-Catholic alike. This is important for us, because when the UK addresses issues like sexual violence in conflict, malnutrition, free trade or government transparency, we do so at a global, not parochial level. Pope Francis has argued how the individual human being must be at the heart of global economic and political policies. The UK agrees that by addressing such issues at a global level, governments can and should improve the lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals.

G8 leaders meet today and tomorrow in Northern Ireland, under the UK’s chairmanship.

I’ve been lucky enough to be at five G8 Summits. For foreign policy junkies like me, they are an antidote to usual international conferences. The number at the table is small enough for a crunchy discussion. There is greater proximity to leaders.

There is more time for real rather than scripted discussion, for changes of position, for surprises, for arguments. The settings, as in Lough Erne, are always spectacular, though officials (known as sherpas and yaks) spend more time with eyes on blackberries and briefs than the horizon. There is a greater sense than usual that discussions resonate – Gleneagles, the last time the UK hosted the G8, set the agenda for interaction between those inside the room and the public outside.

But how does what eight leaders in a resort discuss matter for Lebanon?

First, at the symbolic level. I’ve just watched the First and Deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland welcome President Obama. Northern Ireland’s journey is a strong rebuke to those who do not believe that – with courage and patience – politics can deliver coexistence.

Lebanon can send a similar message, as Walid Joumblatt saw when we visited Belfast together in April. I’ve posted here (Reconciliation and coexistence: five ideas for Lebanon from Northern Ireland) on how we can build on these connections to promote reconciliation.

Second, G8 leaders will debate how best to protect civilians and neighbours from the crisis that rages in Syria, where some Lebanese factions are fighting other people’s wars. Behind the diplatitudes about ‘candid’ or ‘frank’ discussions, this will be a real and spirited exchange, exposing and attempting to bridge deep differences.

I hope it will lead to more significant support to Syrians displaced, and to those in Lebanon hosting them with such generosity. I hope progress is made towards a meaningful political process in Syria, and that those arming the regime reflect on whether that helps or hinders it.

I hope that in the margins (another piece of diplo-jargon), leaders will discuss in bilaterals, brush bys and pull asides (sorry, three more) specific support for Lebanon, especially the army, to prevent further dangerous contagion. I hope G8 leaders will commit to Lebanon’s sovereignty and stability – an international effort on which it should be easier to agree.

Third, the summit’s core issues of trade, tax and transparency (see Arthur Snell’s blogpost) are directly relevant to Lebanon’s future. Lebanon now languishes at 115th of 185 countries on the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ index. The UK is using the summit to press partners to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), through which companies publish what they pay and governments what they receive.

As I have argued here, the Lebanese people need EITI if oil/gas reserves are to be a blessing not a curse.

At his first G8 Summit, PM David Cameron impressed his counterparts by swimming in the (I can testify) bracing Musyoka lake. One fellow leader responded by circulating a photo of himself bodybuilding as a young man – blackberries and briefs again. At another summit, the hosts switched off the power to prevent one Head of State from pre-empting their leader’s press conference.

There will be plenty of competition and camaraderie at Lough Erne. For Lebanon’s sake, we will also be pressing for compromise and consensus. Too many summits turn out to be valleys – hopefully not this one.

Guest blog by Deputy Consul-General Ben Greenwood

I visited Murmansk recently, together with representatives from the UK fisheries industry. The city, with its plentiful supply of good quality fish like cod and haddock, is a potential market for UK fish retailers and processors.

It’s no secret that we Brits like our fish. Four out of five households consume seafood at least once a month. But increasingly, the fish enjoyed in British homes and restaurants comes from abroad. In fact, we now import most of the seafood we eat.

So we need to ensure we keep a steady supply coming. And not just because we enjoy eating it. There are important economic reasons too. Seafood is a multi-billion pound industry in the UK, which is based to a significant degree on our strong fish processing sector. Cities such as Hull and Grimsby have large processing plants which rely on a constant flow of fish from overseas to maintain productivity.

In Murmansk we saw modern, state-of-the-art, fish processing factories and heard how local companies are already beginning to supply UK customers. We saw too how UK traders are able to help suppliers in Murmansk find markets elsewhere in Europe.

All in all, our visit told us that there is genuine potential for co-operation. As a next step, we invited our colleagues in Murmansk to the Annual Humber Seafood Summit, which will take place in Grimsby on 18-19 September (http://www.seafish.org/media/events/humber-seafood-summit).

So in the future we may see that Russia plays an increasingly important – and welcome – role in allowing us to enjoy one of our most famous national dishes! href=”http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/garethward/files/2013/06/photo-for-blog-1_-view-of-the-Murmansk-port.jpg”>

In the baking heat of Kabul, the British Secretary of State for Defence, Philip Hammond, touched-down this week to re-affirm Britain’s long-term commitment to the people of Afghanistan. During the visit, he visited the Afghan Presidential palace to meet

President Hamid Karzai, and also paid a surprise visit to UK troops in Helmand. Whilst there, he announced the move of the British Task Force Headquarters from its base in Lashkar Gah to Camp Bastion.

During the meeting with President Karzai, Mr Hammond had the opportunity to discuss British commitments to Afghanistan post 2014. The British Defence Secretary also met with Afghan Defence Minister Bismellah Mohammadi where he discussed the progress of the security transition to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).

In a first for the Defence Secretary, Mr Hammond had the opportunity to tour the site at Qargha, just outside Kabul, where the new Afghan Army Officers Academy (ANAOA) is being built. Based on the British Army model of Officer Training, the ANAOA is an important example of the UK’s ongoing commitment to Afghanistan beyond 2014, supported as it is by a team

of British mentors. The tour there was led by Brigadier General Sharifi the ANAOA Commandant and was followed by a further meeting with Major General Karim, the Commander of the Afghan National Defence University which is also located at the Qargha site.

The second day of the visit was based in Helmand Province. The headquarters of British forces operating in Afghanistan, Task Force Helmand, has been based in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province, since 2006 but will move to the vast desert base of Camp Bastion later this summer.

Camp Bastion is located next to the Afghan National Army’s Camp Shorabak. The move, which comes as part of the redeployment of British forces, will allow the British and Afghan headquarters to work even more closely together. Mr Hammond completed his 2 day visit by meeting with British troops and senior military officials in a number of locations around Helmand province before returning to the United Kingdom.

The upcoming UK-hosted G8 summit at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland is an opportunity for the UK to lead a global debate on Trade, Tax and Transparency – the “3Ts” – showing how progress on these areas is essential for prosperity in all countries.

The OECD has made an invaluable contribution to this effort – I’ve made a short video where you can find out more.

Tax

Tax avoidance and evasion have received a large amount of media attention recently. The OECD’s report on Base Erosion Profit Shifting, launched with the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the G20 in February, shines a light on what is going on. The OECD is putting the finishing touches to an Action Plan, setting out how we can ensure that governments can collect the taxes they need to pay for public services and to support growth. The OECD’s ‘Tax Inspectors Without Borders’ programme should help build tax and audit capacity in developing countries.

Trade

Groundbreaking work on Global Value Chains is taking place at the OECD, changing the way we think about trade and setting out implications for policy-makers. This promises us a better idea of where jobs are being created through global trade. Next year will see work to highlight and tackle restrictions on trade in services.

Transparency

Open data, transparent governments and open taxation are all part of the issue of transparency. The UK and France are due to sign the Extractive Industries Transparency Index in a move that further underlines the UK’s commitment to open government, transparency and development.

You can find out more about the G8 priorities by visiting the official webpage, or on Twitter – @g8.

“I am, Sir, Yours faithfully. ” So read the final written thoughts of departing British Ambassadors up until 2006. I don’t think there is an approved form of words for Valedictory Blogs.

 Confidential Valedictory Despatches, addressed to the Foreign Secretary, protected with a security classification, and intended for a small official readership, could be brutally frank and highly entertaining. It was an Ambassador’s last chance to write what they really thought about his host country – and his own employer. No wonder the media loved to get hold of leaked copies. These despatches could be many times longer than the 400 word blogs I have posted over the past 18 months. (This one is a bit longer than normal.)

 When I was appointed HM Ambassador to the Czech Republic, our Human Resources Director told me I was the luckiest person in the Diplomatic Service. To become Ambassador in Prague had been my dream since I joined the Diplomatic Service in 1986. As a music student I loved the music of Leos Janacek. One of the attractions of my first Moscow posting was the door that Russian opened to other languages and postings behind the Iron Curtain.

 Thanks to history, I arrived in a very different Prague in 2009. No longer the capital of communist Czechoslovakia famous for images of tanks in 1968, Charter ’77 and the imprisonment of Vaclav Havel. Unlike some earlier British ambassadors my valedictory words will not include “dark, nightmare life” or “aggressive tailing by the heavy mob”. Reflecting the reality of contemporary relations (and the priorities of contemporary ambassadors) my final report is more likely to mention nuclear cooperation, giant lasers, luxury cars (and racing car engines), well cut suits, beautiful shoes and glamorous underwear.

 It has been a pleasure to live and work in beautiful, historic buildings, to serve in a country where music plays an important role in national life, and to spend weekends on cross country skis or a bicycle in the Jizerske Mountains or along the banks of the Vltava. (See Embassy Facebook soon for a photo diary of some of my favourite things and moments)

 It has been an inspiration to work with people committed to positive change in education, business, politics or the society, people who have played a role in critical shared moments of history, and brilliant individuals who represent the best of the links between our two countries.

 It has been a sad duty, but a privilege, to lay wreaths commemorating tragic and heroic moments in your history at the cathedral of St Cyril and Methodius, Lidice, Terezin, Lety. It has been privilege to meet people who struggled for freedom from Communist dictatorship. Above all it has been a privilege to represent the United Kingdom in the Czech Republic.

 This country has undergone massive change over a short time and still has huge potential yet to be realised. I hope that sooner rather than later you will be able to stem activity that undermines public finance, investor confidence and public trust in the democratic process. I wish the very best also to those working to overcome prejudice and educational disadvantage to build a healthy prosperous future.

 Many thanks to everyone who has taken time to show me your country, explain your culture and history, worked with my team to promote transparency and tolerance, shared ideas and initiatives, and made my family so welcome here. They include musicians, artists, scientists, diplomats, politicians, athletes, teachers and many others. Special thanks as well to my highly capable, hard working Embassy team.

 Thank you and farewell to everyone who has taken time to read and comment on my blogs. My typically British sense of understatement and irony may not always have translated easily for Czech readers and have occasionally been mistaken by a few readers for naïve optimism (or even calculated insult). I hope though that my observations have made a modest contribution, within the bounds of diplomatic propriety, to public debate on issues that matter to the Czech Republic, to the UK and to me personally.

 It was traditional for British ambassadors to conclude a valedictory despatch by thanking their spouse. So I will too. Many thanks to Richard and to our children for cheerfully sharing with me the upheaval of packing, moving and changing language, and sharing their home with thousands of official guests.

 I leave next week after four years as one of the world’s most beautiful capital cities cleans up after the powerful floods that devastated a swathe of the country (and watches with concern a massive police operation reaching to the heart of government). This has been an anxious time. As the damage is repaired and planners continue to consider how best to cope with an unpredictable, changing climate, I wish the Czech Republic the best for the future. And I wish my successor Jan Thompson, all the best for the adventure ahead of her.

As Chair of the G8, the UK will host a G8 Summit on 17-18 June in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will join David Cameron, and leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the US and the EU to address global economic and international security issues together.

Leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, USA and UK will meet at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland for the G8 Summit 17-18 June.

Top of the G8 agenda, and a personal priority for David Cameron will be achieving real progress on three issues which are critical for growth, prosperity and economic development across the world: advancing trade, ensuring tax compliance and promoting greater transparency. Trade. Tax. Transparency – otherwise known as the “3Ts”, all of which are crucial for sustainable growth.

These three priorities are, of course, all linked. David Cameron talks of a “golden thread” linking open societies, open government and open economies – supporting sustainable economic growth and development through promoting transparency, accountability, fairness, trade and rule of law.

So what, exactly, do we mean by Trade, Tax and Transparency?

Trade is key to economic growth and job creation. In late 2008, global trade saw its steepest fall since the Great Depression. More than four years on it has still not fully recovered. The EU is currently negotiating free trade agreements with both Canada and Japan, and is on track to start negotiations with the US very soon.

CETA, the EU-Canada trade agreement, will bring great benefits to both Canada and the EU: an estimated $12 billion boost to Canada’s annual income alone and a 20% boost to bilateral trade. Not something to be sniffed at – and we hope to conclude it very soon. And together, the EU and US make up about at third of global trade. An EU-US deal could add over £100 billion to EU GDP and over £80 billion to US GDP.

Canada has other trade deals too in the pipeline, not least the Trans Pacific Partnership. If G8 countries complete all of their current and proposed trade deals it could boost the income of the whole world by more than $1 trillion.

On transparency, we want to make progress on mandatory reporting of payments by companies – and we strongly welcome PM Harper’s announcement this week committing Canada to delivering just that for the mining, oil and gas sectors. We know this is a challenging ambition, but it is essential that citizens know how much revenue their governments are getting from businesses and can hold their governments to account for the way the money is being used.

On tax, we want to take firm action against tax evasion and avoidance. Strengthening international standards will allow countries to collect the tax that is due to them, enabling them to strengthen public services in areas like health and education. It will protect public finances and improve confidence in the global economic system.

All of these measures bring benefits to G8 citizens, but also to other countries struggling to achieve security and prosperity in this tough world. David Cameron and Stephen Harper share a focus on Africa’s long-term future, where the 3Ts bring enormous potential benefit. The G8 will be looking particularly at improving security in the Sahel region, where Canada is showing great leadership in the Global Counter Terrorism Forum.

So, a challenging, but important agenda. We’re delighted to have Canada at the table with us, helping to drive forward G8 leadership in tackling these pressing global economic challenges.

Corin – @CorinRobertson

Follow the Twitter channel for the UK Presidency @G8 or follow #G8UK

I leave Tunisia today after the most memorable four and a half years of my career. It has been a privilege.

The country is transformed from the one I arrived in. The biggest changes are of course in government and politics. Tunisia now has an elected government and multiple parties each compete freely for public support. The media is also unrecognisable from the state-controlled communications operation before the revolution. But the biggest change is the engagement of people from all walks of life in issues facing the country. Everyone has an opinion. And everyone is free to express it.

The Tunisian political system is secured by the equilibrium between government, opposition, a vibrant free media and a dynamic civil society. As long as each of those counterbalancing forces remain strong and healthy, I am optimistic for the country’s future.

That does not mean that Tunisia’s security and economic challenges are easy to address. They are not. Nor is the challenge of building a judicial system in which the rule of law is consistently applied and which has the confidence of the public. Tunisians are rightly anxious about these issues. But with sustained effort and real transparency as reform is taken forward in each of these areas, I am sure the challenges can be met.

I leave Tunisia confident in its future. I have been fortunate to make many friends here. I am sure I will come back. And I have every hope that the country I will return to visit will be ever more proud of its achievements through an historic process of political and economic transformation that took Tunisia from relative obscurity to become a symbol of positive change inspiring others across the region and winning the country friends and admirers across the world.

The G8

There are just a few days left before world leaders convene in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, on 17-18 June for the G8 Summit. It makes me recall my first job in the Foreign Office – G8 Desk Officer for our 2005 Presidency. Talk about the deep end – just eight months after starting, I found myself in a room with some of the most powerful world leaders! Deep breath!

If you haven’t heard of the G8 (I was armed with only the haziest of notions before I joined the office!), here are the basics: it’s an annual forum that brings together 8 of the most powerful economies in the world to discuss important issues of the day. Even its detractors would have to agree that it remains a powerful tool to make things happen on the world stage. It also provides an opportunity for the G8 members to demonstrate that we’re getting our own houses in order. Little point asking others to follow an example we haven’t tried to set (one of the reasons we signed up to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative last month).

Taxes, transparency and trade

Our focus on Africa in 2005 was about raising unprecedented levels of aid and cancelling debt. This year’s agenda – which Prime Minister David Cameron has set as pushing for fairer tax regimes, greater transparency and freer trade – recognises that positive impacts of non-aid policies, such as trade and tax, are just as important for development, if not more. It is an agenda that is equally critical to the prosperity and growth of Africa as it is to the G8.

Without open societies and open economies, can developing countries really tackle poverty effectively? Can we really afford for tax havens to sit on an estimated $20trillion (as a tax payer, I have to admit to feeling pretty bitter about this!)? And should we not continue to look at ways to drive global growth, including dismantling protectionism and trade barriers (something that holds back African development)?

South Africa’s role in the agenda

South Africa already plays a leading role on the agenda. It is a founding member of the Open Government Partnership, it has important roles on the Africa Peer Review Mechanism and the Kimberly process, it has a superb revenue service and the second most transparent budget in the world. President Zuma’s personal championing of the North-South trade corridor is a crucial element in regional trade integration. South Africa has a huge amount to contribute – both to the 3Ts debate, and to our efforts to take forward the G8 agenda in the months to come.

For more information

If this has whetted your G8 appetite, here are some links:

•   Website hub for G8 content: http://www.gov.uk/g8
•  Twitter: Hashtags: #G8UK, combined with #trade, #tax and #transparency. The Open For Growth event on 15 June will use #G8TTT
• Other Twitter accounts: @Number10gov, @Number10press, @foreignoffice, @DFID_UK, @UKTI, @bisgovuk, @hmtreasury
• G8 Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/g8uk
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidCameron

“Brazil (Vice-President Temer) and UK (Prime Minister David Cameron) co-hosted a Nutrition for Growth meeting in London on 8 June with the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF).  This was an important event on a neglected issue.

The event mobilised £2.7bn in funds and participants signed a Compact seeking by 2020 to extend effective nutrition to at least £500m people (pregnant mothers and children under two) and to prevent at least 20million children under five from becoming stunted.  A series of specific actions were committed by governments, businesses and donors.

Vice-President Temer reaffirmed Brazil’s commitment to host a follow-up event around the Rio Olympics to check progress against the commitments made.

Embrapa President Lopes also spoke at both Nutrition for Growth and the subsequent G8 New Alliance meeting.  He referred to the partnership with Brazil of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) on south-south cooperation and reinforced Brazil’s commitment to share expertise with developing countries. President Lopes will be a member of a new Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition – a new initiative announced by UK, which will provide leadership on science for nutrition over the next three years.

The event highlighted the strong UK-Brazil relationship on agriculture, food and nutrition – a key part of our global partnership on development.

The UK is working with Brazil on their international food security cooperation with low-income countries.  The high-level partnership between London 2012 and Rio 2016 sets the framework. This is underpinned by strong programme work with 5 African countries. New ways are being considered to develop this further, including plans for support to an additional ten countries via the Brazil/WFP Centre of Excellence Against Hunger and options for trilateral UK-Brazil-Africa collaboration on agri-science.”

The British Presidency G8 summit will take place next week at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland. I blogged at the beginning of this year about UK’s G8 Presidency, which revolves around three interconnected priorities: Tax, Trade and Transparency. We believe that addressing these issues is vital for sustainable economic growth worldwide.

On Monday, The Lough Erne Accountability Report was launched online. It is a second comprehensive report tracking progress on the G8 Leaders’ development promises – looking at 61 commitments made over the past 11 years. G8 Leaders in 2009 made a public commitment to monitor their progress on their promises, including their aid effectiveness. We are very grateful to UN Economic Commission for Africa, which is based here in Addis Ababa, for providing thoughtful comments on this report.

Another important recent event was the G8 “Nutrition for Growth” Conference on 8 June. This showcased the fact that despite aid efforts there are still one billion people going hungry and one in four children stunted through chronic malnutrition. Prime Minister David Cameron said in his speech  at the conference that the international community must do all it takes to defeat hunger and poverty all over the world.  The African Union’s (AU) Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture had a central role in this meeting, reflecting the positive relationship between the G8 and the AU on agricultural development in Africa. Ethiopia’s Minister of Health Dr Kesetebirhan Admasu Berhan spoke at the meeting and committed Ethiopia to implement its revised National Nutrition Plan (NNP) and allocate an additional US$ 15 million of domestic financing a year to addressing under-nutrition in the country.

Ethiopia was also represented at a separate event on 8 June which discussed the New Alliance for Food, Security and Nutrition.  Khalid Bomba, Head of the Agricultural Transformation Agency, spoke about Ethiopia’s progress in attracting new private sector investment in agriculture.

The G8 works in partnership with Africa to advance trade, ensure tax compliance and promote greater transparency. The AU has a strong vision to tackle such challenges, which are hampering the continent’s development. We expect the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, AU Commissioner Dr Nksozana Dlamina-Zuma and the Senegalese President Macky Sall to attend the traditional Summit lunch on 18 June.

This Saturday, a high-level “Open for Growth: G8 Trade, Tax and Transparency” event will be held in preparation for the Summit. The event will encourage wider discussion about the 3T’s, with business, civil society and governments.

I would encourage everyone to read the reports I have mentioned above  and look forward to your comments about the G8 Summit agenda.

On Monday, the 39th G8 Summit will commence in Northern Ireland. I am looking forward to Northern Ireland being positively highlighted on the global stage for these two days and beyond for a multitude of reasons. I think that the world will be fascinated with not only how beautiful the country is (please let it not rain…) but also how much this lovely place my family calls home has turned around in the last 20 years.

As readers of my previous blogs may know, my mother grew up in Derry-Londonderry, and moved to the US after she married my American father, who she met while he was studying abroad in Edinburgh.

I grew up, very fortunately, travelling to and from Derry-Londonderry to visit my mother’s very large side of the family. To say that I love it there would be an understatement, as it has become a second home to me.

I have learned so much about the resilient spirit of the people of Northern Ireland, much of it as I wrote a four year research paper on The Troubles during high school, writing and rewriting as I travelled back for Christmas holidays. The paper helped me learn just what life was like for those throughout Northern Ireland in the 20th century, including my mother.

The Peace Bridge over the River Foyle in Derry-Londonderry connects the two sides of the city.

Fast forward to today, and Northern Ireland is flourishing both economically and culturally. During the past six years it has attracted more inward investment than the previous 40 put together. The US has been a key partner too, investing over 1 billion pounds in past the 5 years.

Derry-Londonderry has been chosen as the first ever UK City of Culture, beating out some other UK cities and ultimately taking home the prize. It has been well worth it. The city has held numerous concerts with A-list headliners, broken Guinness world records, held festivals and encouraged service opportunities.

Just recently, the city along with BBC Radio 1 held the sold-out One Big Weekend Concert with headliners Bruno Mars, Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding, and earlier in the year, thousands helped set a Guinness World Record for the largest choreographed song and dance routine ever staged, when 5,400 hundred people descended on the city centre to sing and dance to “It’s a Hard Knock Life.” And just last weekend, the programme coordinated a grand “return” for Derry-Londonderry’s patron saint, Colmcille (who my brother Colm is aptly named after), which brought together tens of thousands of people to watch a light show on the River Foyle directed by Frank Cottrell Boyce, who penned the London 2012 Opening Ceremony.

It has been marvellous to watch from a distance, but in March, I was able to go see it for myself. On my way to London, I stopped in Derry-Londonderry and Belfast to spend some time with family and was so impressed by the goings-on in both cities.

The City of Culture programme has brought new life to the city – with £100 of private and public investment, new jobs and a huge boost in tourism. Tourism website Lonely Planet named Derry-Londonderry the fourth best place to visit in the world in 2013. Later this year, as part of the celebrations, the Turner Prize for visual art will be chosen in town, marking its first ever selection outside of England.

In Belfast, I visited the new Titanic Quarter, which is spectacular. A small disclaimer is that Titanic is my favourite film and that this is the second time in a year I had dragged my cousin to the Museum, but that is how worthwhile the exhibition really is.

The Titanic Quarter is the largest regeneration scheme in Northern Ireland’s history and includes not only the infamous RMS Titanic’s museum and memorial, but a mile’s worth of waterfront property including restaurants, storefronts, hotels and businesses. The regeneration of the Quarter is expected to create more than 20,000 jobs throughout the next 15 years.

Also located in the quarter is Titanic Studios, which produces the well-known American HBO drama “Game of Thrones.” Since opening, the exhibit has attracted more than 800,000 visitors from around the world. If you ever find yourself in Belfast, you must go and see it.

There are so many positives about Northern Ireland, and the G8 Summit taking place there next week is sure to highlight them. I look forward to reading the national and international media and seeing photos of the Summit – not only because my colleague Jessica Jennings, who is based on our Comms Team in DC but has been working London on loan on a G8 media logistics post – but because world leaders will be gathered in the place I am very proud to call my second home.

On Monday 17 June the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is hosting the annual G8 Summit, with the Heads of State and Government of the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan. With these countries still comprising half of global GDP, the bold steps we take by working together through the G8 can make a real difference by driving prosperity, not just in G8 countries, but all over the world.

At the heart of the UK’s agenda for the Summit are three issues – advancing trade, ensuring tax compliance and promoting greater transparency. This is an ambitious, practical and pro-business agenda that benefits everyone around the world.

We know that trade is a driver of growth; yet there are still too many trade barriers globally. We want the G8 to show its commitment to open markets and highlight the benefits of further trade liberalisation to all countries. Particularly key this year will be agreeing a deal on the simplification and harmonisation of international trade procedures (e.g. customs) at the World Trade Organisation Ministerial meeting in Bali in December. Experts estimate this will add USD$70 billion to global GDP per year.

On tax, the G8 wants global action to bring international tax rules into the 21st century. The rules haven’t changed for nearly a century and are failing to ensure global companies pay their fair share. Both tax evasion and avoidance deprive governments of the ability to provide public services that improve citizens’ quality of life.

We will also put a new, practical, emphasis on transparency, accountability and open government. One focus will be on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). This is a voluntary approach which, through a coalition of government, companies and civil society, provides a standard for companies to publish what they pay and for governments to disclose what they receive from the extractives industry.

The UK helped launch EITI in 2003, and will formally become a member this year. There are 39 EITI member countries of which 23 are fully EITI compliant and another 16 are candidates (including Trinidad and Tobago). Leaders of Trinidad and Tobago’s major oil and gas companies, civil society organisations and the government, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on 7 June, committing to make information about revenues from the oil and gas sector available by means of the EITI process.

These revenue details will be submitted to an independent reporting mechanism, with the first such report due in Q3 of this year. I join Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine in congratulating those 18 T&T-based companies that voluntarily opted to participate in this important process and also I recognise the hard work and commitment of the T&T EITI Steering Committee chaired by Victor Hart as well as Mark Regis, head of the TT EITI secretariat, both working towards achieving compliant country status for Trinidad and Tobago.

The G8 Summit will be held in Northern Ireland, a region that has been transformed by a peace process in the last two decades, following years of conflict. We hope that the G8 this year will also be able to make a lasting transformation, this time to global prosperity, through action on trade, tax and transparency.