The Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed a historic agreement with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at Downing Street today (Friday 1 July), strengthening the UK and New Zealand’s collaboration in research, science, and innovation.

The Research, Science and Innovation Arrangement demonstrates a commitment to developing deeper links between our science and innovation communities, strengthening collaboration between the 2 nations and building on areas of shared scientific and innovative excellence.

Co-operation under the arrangement is expected to be wide-ranging, from joint research and development of new technologies, to visits and exchanges of scientists, and innovation missions between businesses.

The UK is working with New Zealand’s Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to deliver the agreement, which will support the ambitions set out in the UK’s Integrated Review to develop strategic science partnerships, and strengthen the UK’s presence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Science Minister George Freeman said:

This is another step in our Science Superpower mission to widen and deepen our post-Brexit global science programmes.

Today’s agreement with our New Zealand allies and partners represents another victory for our bilateral relations in science and innovation, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, where we are also building strong working relationships with Australia, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea. This is in addition to the Science and Innovation Memorandums of Understanding I have now agreed with Israel, Switzerland, Sweden and Canada.

As I made clear at the recent G7 science summit in Frankfurt, and at the 47 nation Eureka Innovation Summit in Lisbon last week, the UK is more committed than ever to deepening our international research collaborations.

The agreement made today will give us the chance to deepen our collaborations with New Zealand’s outstanding science and research community in a number of areas, from space, quantum and photonics, to Antarctic research and Agritech.

The combination of our long-standing UK leadership in plant and animal science with New Zealand’s world class AgriTech eco-system will also provide an exciting opportunity to build partnerships and collaborations, showcasing the best of UK innovation in efficient farming, and helping UK businesses grow and scale while enabling access to global markets.

The arrangement will support the UK’s access to New Zealand’s niche capabilities in areas such as quantum technology, enabling collaboration that will further global scientific development in these important fields. The agreement will promote joint work between our most innovative businesses and brightest researchers, while supporting our ambition to become a global Science Superpower and Innovation Nation.

The UK government is also announcing an Innovate UK Global Business Innovation Programme (GBIP) in AgriTech with New Zealand today, an endeavour which will support innovative UK businesses to build high-potential connections with New Zealand’s AgriTech industry.

The programme will enable access to New Zealand businesses, universities, labs and investors, allowing innovators to work with their counterparts to develop solutions to common industry challenges, such as advancing the use of robotics and satellite data for more efficient and precise farming. British SMEs will also be supported in bringing their products and services closer to global markets. Recruitment for eligible individuals is planned to commence today.

Opportunities are already being explored with the British High Commission in Wellington to put the arrangement into action, and deepen the connections between our research and innovation communities.

Thank you Mr President,

Let me begin by expressing my condolences to the victims of the earthquake in Afghanistan.

And let me thank the High Commissioner, Special Rapporteur and Ms Fawzia Koofi for their powerful interventions this morning.

It is almost one year since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Tragically, our worst fears have come true when it comes to girls’ education.

Many secondary schools continue to be closed to girls, despite Taliban commitments that secondary education would be open to all by 23 March. Afghanistan is the only country where girls cannot attend secondary school. As the father of three girls myself, I find that heartbreaking.

An entire generation of girls are missing out on equal access to opportunities, their hopes and dreams shattered, the gains of the last decades squandered.

But education isn’t the only way women’s and girls’ rights have been cruelly curtailed. Women and girls face increasing restrictions on their ability to work and to travel. Women cannot leave their homes without a mahram. Some remain trapped in their homes, facing domestic violence with no way out.

This suffering is, of course, not limited to women and girls. In August, the Taliban announced an amnesty for all Afghans yet we continue to receive credible reports of former security force members, being tortured orkilled. Many Afghans, including religious and ethnic minorities, LGBT+ persons, and civil society activists, continue to face discrimination, harassment, and death threats.

The UK remains committed to supporting the Afghan people. We delivered £286m of aid to Afghanistan in the last financial year and we will do the same this year. We are allocating at least 50% of that aid to women and girls and recognise the urgent need for funding to women’s organisations, to ensure vital services are delivered to women across Afghanistan.

Mr President,

We call on the Taliban to uphold women’s and girls’ rights. And we stand with the women and girls of Afghanistan and commend their extraordinary bravery.

Thank you.

Following the success of last year’s Forward Thinking conference, the Insolvency Service is planning the next conference on Friday 18 November 2022.

The theme for the conference is ‘Forward Thinking: Insolvency Response in uncertain times’. We want to provide a platform for insolvency academic research and technical discussions while facilitating a stronger link between academia, the insolvency sector and policy makers, and encourage feedback from interested parties.

Call for papers

We’re now inviting scholars, researchers, postgraduate students, insolvency practitioners and anyone else with an interest in insolvency law and related areas to submit their abstracts for an academic or technical paper for presenting at the conference, including:

• an academic research paper, or
• a technical issue relating to insolvency practice

The Insolvency Service welcomes submissions in all areas of personal or corporate insolvency, whether UK or international in focus, and papers should be focused on the central theme of this year’s conference, an insolvency response in uncertain times and economic shocks.

The deadline for submission of abstracts is Wednesday 14 September. At this stage, we would like you to submit an abstract of the paper with a maximum of 500 words only.

For selected papers, the final draft will need to be submitted by Friday 14 October ready to be presented at the conference venue in person.

Research submissions will be considered by a panel of insolvency law academics and representatives from the Insolvency Service. Technical submissions will be considered by a panel of Insolvency Service representatives.

Conference format

We expect the conference to feature about 8 papers. Speakers will have approximately 20 minutes to present their paper, with additional time for questions from those at the event and online delegates.

Papers selected for presentation at the conference will be published online, hosted by the Insolvency Service.

Submission of Abstracts

If you wish to submit an abstract, maximum 500 words, please send it to: conference@insolvency.gov.uk.

Your covering email should include:

• whether you are submitting a research paper or a technical issue
• your name
• firm/affiliation/role (where applicable)
• email
• telephone number

These details will be removed when the abstract is forwarded to the panel for consideration. Please ensure the abstract does not contain information or acknowledgments that could reveal your identity, firm or affiliation.

Further information

The venue will be confirmed shortly and if you have any queries, please contact conference@insolvency.gov.uk.