It is truly a distinct pleasure to join you this evening. I would like to thank the Conservative Foreign and Commonwealth Council (CFCC), especially Chairman Sir Ronald Halstead, for giving me this opportunity to share with you the latest developments in the Philippines and how we see ourselves and our role in our region and the global community of nations.
Thank you for inviting me to speak to you today. It’s a real pleasure to meet you all. I have been to this grand old parliament on many occasions, but it’s always a great honour to be invited to speak here, as it is a great joy to be in the UK altogether. It has been a special privilege to be in London this year to see the grand spectacle of the Olympics. Rarely have I seen a city so wholeheartedly embrace a sporting event and rally behind their athletes. As a small country, Denmark couldn’t quite compete with the astonishing British medal tally, but we were still proud to take home 9 medals at the Olympics and 5 at the Paralympics.
Syria: a pawn in two gamesGood evening. I would like to thank you for the very kind invitation. It is a real honour to have this opportunity to speak to you all.
HE Mr Johan Verbeke gave an excellent talk encompassing bilateral and multilateral foreign relations including the European Union, as well as a more wide-ranging view about the success of Belgium in world affairs.
HE Mr T Jasudasen, High Commissioner for Singapore, spoke eloquently at the meeting, describing the two hundred year old relationship between Singapore and the UK which overall had been a happy one. They picked the right language - English - and that was a help.
Bangladesh was born as an Independent Country on 16 December 1971 after a nine-month War of Independence starting on 26 March 1971 under the unparallel leadership of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Afterwards under his able and dynamic leadership Bangladesh got a well-crafted National Constitution on 16 December 1972. Westminster style parliamentary system of democracy is one of the main features of Bangladesh Constitution.
HE MR MAZEN HOMOUD, AMBASSADOR OF THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN - spoke about the foreign relations of his country and His Majesty the King of Jordan and the Hashemite family. Topics included the country's rich heritage, religion (as the cradle for three religions), history, the geography and lastly the economy.
The CFCC is proud to continue its affiliated status with the Conservative Party. During the last year we took part in an audit of groups affiliated to the Conservative Party. On 22 September 2011 we had a letter from Lord Feldman of Elstree and Rt Hon Baroness Warsi, Co-Chairmen of the Conservative Party.
