New British Ambassador Davidson visits Honduras: emphasis on UK-Honduras collaboration
New British Ambassador Carolyn Davidson’s four-day trip to Roatán and Tegucigalpa highlighted the excellent relationship the UK and Honduras currently enjoy.
Carolyn Davidson and Roberto Ochoa Madrid
During her meetings, Ambassador Davidson explored the UK-Honduras alliance in a number of political areas and urged increased cooperation on trade, security, transparency and human rights.
In Roatán, Ambassador Davidson met with local authorities, representatives of the tourism industry and the British consular network there, all of whom play a role in providing consular assistance to UK nationals visiting or living in the Bay Islands. According to official statistics, more than four thousand British nationals entered Honduras by air in 2014, a number that is increasing each year.
In Tegucigalpa, the British Ambassador met with members of the Honduran Government to discuss a number of key policy issues, these included the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Ochoa Madrid; the Attorney General, Oscar Fernando Chinchilla; and the President of the Honduran Congress, Mauricio Oliva, who visited London last week in an official trip with a group of deputies to the British Parliament. During her talks, she focused on furthering the important relationship between the UK and Honduras in the areas of democracy, economic prosperity and security.
Ambassador Davidson also met with members of the civil society and British non-governmental organisations working in Honduras to enhance democracy and human rights, and who are participating in a national dialogue that aims to bring forward proposals for the reform and strengthening of Honduran institutions. The Ambassador announced that the UK will join this effort by financing a project on fighting corruption by making it easier for citizens to register their complaints. This will be implemented by the Transparency International chapter in Honduras.
Ambassador Davidson also met with business contacts and highlighted that the United Kingdom and Honduras enjoy a strong bilateral economic relationship that contributes towards enhancing job creation, wealth and innovation in both countries. In 2014 Honduras exported US$100 million in goods to the UK, 20% more than in the previous year, thanks in part due to the implementation of the EU-CA Association Agreement. The Ambassador also commended the role UK investments are playing in the country and welcomed further steps to improve the business environment.
Finally, Ambassador Davidson highlighted that this year the United Kingdom will support projects on improving the capabilities of judges, and on protecting the rights of women and children totalling more than 2 million lempiras.