British Foreign Secretary William Hague visits Brazil
Visit aims to further the strong and growing partnership between the UK and Brazil
The British Foreign Secretary William Hague arrives next week for his second visit to Brazil for a series of meetings and events in Manaus, Brasília and São Paulo.
His three-day trip starts in Manaus where he will visit Arena Amazônia football stadium, host to England’s first 2014 World Cup match, against Italy, on June 14.
Mr Hague said:
“It will be a great pleasure for me to have the opportunity to visit one of the most exciting states of Brazil.
“There is huge scope for Britain and Brazil to continue to cooperate on the World Cup and in the lead up to the 2016 Olympic Games, capitalizing on the legacy London 2012 has provided. And it is not just in relation to sport that our trading relationship continues to strengthen: we are natural partners in areas such as energy and infrastructure development.”
In Brasilia, the Foreign Secretary’s agenda includes the third Strategic Dialogue with his Brazilian counterpart, to discuss international security issues, human rights, cyber and internet governance, commercial opportunities, international development and progress on the EU-Mercosul free trade agreement.
The Foreign Secretary will also open an event at Rio Branco Institute on the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative1; which is one of his top priorities.
His final stop will be in Sao Paulo, where he will meet with Brazilian Chevening2 and Science Without Borders3 alumni, at a reception dedicated to celebrate the links between the UK and Brazil in education.
During his time in Sao Paulo, Hague will take part in a round table with the Lula Institute, with the objective of expanding UK-Brazil collaboration on development in Africa, including discussions around the post-2015 Development agenda. He will also meet with the Governor of São Paulo to discuss forthcoming objectives for the UK-São Paulo Working Group, including on mutual priorities such as infrastructure and education.
Notes to editors:
William Hague was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 12 May 2010. He was elected to Parliament in 1989 and is the Conservative MP for Richmond, Yorkshire. William was educated at Wath-on-Dearne Comprehensive School and Magdalen College, Oxford where he studied philosophy, politics and economics and was President of the Oxford Union. He continued his studies at INSEAD Business School in France. Before entering Parliament, William worked for Shell UK and then for management consultants McKinsey and Co. He has written 2 books. His first book, a biography of William Pitt the Younger, was published in September 2004 and won ‘History Book of the Year’ at the National Book Awards. His following book, a biography of William Wilberforce, was published in June 2007.
Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative – launched on 29 May 2012 by the British Foreign Secretary ,William Hague, it aims to strengthen and support international efforts to respond to sexual violence in conflict - including by enhancing the capacity of countries, institutions, and communities to support survivors and end impunity for perpetrators. A key part of this initiative has been to provide expertise in responding to sexual violence in conflict through the creation of a multidisciplinary Team of Experts (the ToE). Read more
Chevening Scholarships are the British government’s global scholarship programme funded by the Foreign Office and partners. The scholarships are awarded to students of excellence in their fields and have a potential for leadership. More details on Chevening Scholarship for Brazil.
Science without Borders is a Brazilian Government scholarship programme which aims to send 101,000 Brazilian students on undergraduate sandwich courses, PhD sandwich courses, full PhDs and post-docs to study in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and creative industry subjects (which focus on technological and innovative development) at universities around the world. In total the UK has placed almost 5000 Brazilian undergraduate students on SwB UK. The total number of SwB students who will have studied in the UK since the programme launched in 2012 is almost 6000. Students from over 100 universities across Brazil have been placed on the UK undergraduate programme at more than 80 UK universities so far. SwB represents an opportunity which is about far more than numbers and student recruitment. SwB has the power to not only increase mobility between the UK and Brazil but also to develop many more partnerships and collaborations between Brazil and the UK which will help cement deep long-lasting links and bring tangible benefits to both countries. More details here