BCCH Magazine
May, 2002
The Ambassador's Tea
by Ember Ward
In April, new members of the Chamber met with Britain Ambassador to Hungary, Nigel Thorpe for the second Tea with the Ambassador.
Left to right Debbie Goldthorpe, Sanjay Jaiswal: Euro-Phoenix, Dr. Margaret C. Helbach: Wellspring Ltd., Karen Hilditch: Bodkin Kft., Andrew Prest: Axelero, Ambassador Nigel Thorpe, Ronald Nawrocki: BI Solutions Ltd., St. John Coombes: Towry Law Int., Victoria Westcott.
The meeting, the second of its type arranged jointly by the BCCH and the British Embassy, was once again considered a great success by both parties.
After introductions, Debbie Goldthorpe, First Secretary of the Commercial Section, spoke on the Embassy's current priorities involving commerce in Hungary. "Right now the EU is our goal. We want to see more integration with Europe," Goldthorpe Stated bluntly.
Next to speak was Valéria Abelovszky, the Executive Director of the Chamber, who outlined the services offered by the BCCH. She also mentioned a few of the many events planned for the following months, such as the upcoming elections within the Chamber for Chairperson and Council Members.
The newly informed inductees were then sorted into smaller groups, to discuss more specific interests with the relevant Commercial Section staff, before gathering again to meet with the Ambassador for an informal tea.
He began the dialogue by stressing the close working relationship between the Chamber and the Embassy in "promoting British business in Hungary either as exporters or as investors" and went on to say that "commercial work is a very important part of embassy activity".
