Bishkek - Kyrgyz31 Mar 2012 00:00
Also found this, again not sure if people have posted about this but good news for political relations in the area...
British Embassy office in Bishkek open for business from 8 December
Bishkek, December 8 / Kabar /. On 8 December, the new British office in Bishkek opened for business. Amanda Ross McDowell, Deputy Head of Mission, will be the senior resident British diplomat until the new Ambassador arrives in February. The Embassy Office is temporarily located in the Bishkek premises of the Department for International Development (DfID) until the new embassy building formally opens in the spring of 2012. Public relations department of the British Embassy in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan reports.
The office’s focus will be on deepening political, economic and developmental co-operation with the Kyrgyz Republic. DFID’s programme in Central Asia is worth some 14 million pounds (US $22 million) per year, primarily in the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. Visa and Consular Services will remain in Almaty and Kyrgyz nationals will continue to need to travel there to apply for visas to the UK.
Ms McDowell accompanied British Ambassador David Moran on meetings with the Kyrgyz Government, British nationals living in the Kyrgyz Republic, members of the Bishkek diplomatic corps and international donor community, and a range of other Kyrgyz business, civil society and media contacts. Ms McDowell said “ I am delighted to be the first resident British diplomat in the Kyrgyz Republic and to have the chance to live and work in this beautiful country. I look forward to working closely with our Kyrgyz partners on a wide range of political, economic and developmental issues.” Ambassador Moran said “On May 11, Foreign Secretary William Hague an¬nounced that Britain would open an embassy in Bishkek. I am pleased to be able to say that Britain is now open for business in the Kyrgyz Republic!”