Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which directorate produced the list of invitees for the recent Ukraine Recovery Conference; and what were the criteria for selection for the invitees.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
As co-hosts for the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC), the programme and attendance was agreed between the Governments of Ukraine and the UK. In addition to the countries and organisations which participated in previous URCs, we invited representatives from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America, recognising the global economic consequences of the war. Over 500 international businesses participated - selected in coordination with the Department of Business and Trade - to promote the potential of the private sector to support Ukraine's recovery. Representatives from Ukrainian and international civil society were selected from a diverse range of sectors at national, regional and local levels.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidelines they offer to parliamentarians wishing to (1) communicate with, or (2) be communicated to, by officials from foreign embassies.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
There is no formal guidance held by the FCDO for parliamentarians relating to their engagement with foreign diplomatic missions in the UK. Parliamentarians continue to be welcome to contact the relevant geographical desk within the FCDO for country specific advice.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the visit to the UK by Bakhtiyor Saidov, the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan, on 24 July, what priority areas were put forward in discussion by (1) Uzbekistan, (2) the UK; and when they anticipate that a return visit will take place to Uzbekistan by the Foreign Secretary or another Secretary of State.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Foreign Secretary met Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov on 24 July to discuss how to advance our interests together, and how we can build stronger cooperation. The UK is committed to working with Uzbekistan across our many shared priorities: security, trade, human rights, climate and the war in Ukraine. The Foreign Secretary's travel plans over the next year are yet to be decided, however he is committed to increasing ties with Uzbekistan. The Minister for Europe and Central Asia, Leo Docherty, visited Uzbekistan on 6 June and has since visited the four other Central Asian Republics.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to update the Integrated Review Refresh 2023 on a quarterly basis, given the evolving policy and geopolitical circumstances.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
There are no plans for a fixed schedule of updates for the Integrated Review Refresh 2023. However, the Government will regularly review the overall strategy to ensure it is keeping pace with the evolving international environment.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to encourage frontier and emerging market countries to adopt environmental, social and governance standards for attracting investment into those countries and to safeguard financial returns.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK supports globally consistent Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards through the work being led by the International Sustainability Standards Board. The UK also works through our Development Finance Institution, British International Investment (BII), which plays an important role in implementing ESG standards. BII for example has a policy on Responsible Investing which sets out the environmental, social and business integrity requirements (ESG) that BII Investees are expected to meet after an investment is made.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the government of India's six G20 priorities, published on 12 March.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government welcomes India's Presidency of the G20 and the important priorities that it has set out. The Foreign Secretary has made clear his support for putting the needs of developing countries first and giving the G20 a strong voice on the global stage.
India takes on the Presidency at a time when the world is facing multiple challenges. India's scale, diversity and its extraordinary successes mean it is the right country at the right time to hold the G20 Presidency.
Our goals for the G20 are evolving as the Presidency's agenda consolidates, and our officials are working closely with India to develop successful outcomes.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific proposals, if any, they have forwarded to the government of India for consideration at the forthcoming G20 meeting.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government places a high priority on the G20 and will continue to engage closely with India throughout its Presidency.
In visits to India, the Foreign Secretary and Chancellor reaffirmed their strong support for India's G20 Presidency and committed to work together to address the world's most pressing challenges. The Prime Minister is looking forward to attending the New Delhi Summit in September this year.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the outcome of the recent meeting of E3 diplomats with Iran in Oslo; and what assessment they have made of that outcome.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
E3 (France, Germany and the UK) Political Directors met Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, in Oslo on 16/17 March. The discussion covered the range of our concerns about Iran's behaviour, including its continued nuclear escalation. We have made clear to Iran that its actions over the past months have made progress towards a diplomatic solution on the nuclear issue much more difficult. This was not a negotiation on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Kazakhstan regarding knowledge sharing and capacity building on (1) sanctions compliance, (2) anti-money laundering measures, (3) regulation of cryptocurrencies, and (4) ‘Know Your Customer’ compliance.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government has recently had several high-level engagements with the Government of Kazakhstan, including hosting the UK-Kazakhstan Strategic Dialogue in December, the UK-Kazakh Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Investment in February and the Foreign Secretary's visit to Astana on 18 March, meeting President Tokayev and other senior Kazakhs. In our engagements, we continually emphasise the importance of developing and maintaining a quality business environment to support international investment into Kazakhstan. Although senior meetings have not covered the cryptocurrency regulations, the UK successfully ran a pilot project in 2022 on financial compliance to assess different types of training on tackling illicit finance.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to join (1) the International Science and Technology Center, and (2) the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
His Majesty's Government (HMG) already engages with the International Science and Technology Center and the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine; we have no current plans to join them. HMG aims to ensure that science and technology underpins Ukraine's recovery and is exploring ways to deepen our connections and engagement with a range of institutions in Ukraine. To date, the focus has been on supporting researchers at risk, a twinning programme for UK and Ukrainian universities and supporting the tech sector, which will be a focus for the forthcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference.