MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK Foreign Office Minister visits Uruguay to strengthen trade and political ties

Jeremy Browne is keen in visiting the “Home” of the World Cup

Foreign Office Minister for Latin America Jeremy Browne will be visiting Uruguay from 20-21 May where he will be meeting government officials and key business people to strengthen ties between UK and the Mercosur member.

Browne is the first Minister from the UK Coalition Government to visit Uruguay and will have visited Brazil earlier in the week.

The UK minister has meetings scheduled with Vice- President Danilo Astori, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Conde, and the Minister of Defence, Luis Rosadilla.

He will also give a lecture to Diplomatic students at the Artigas Institute, and develop the trade and investment links between the UK and Uruguay by meeting key business people.

The Minister, who is responsible for the Olympic Games in the FCO, will meet authorities from the Ministry of Sport, the Uruguayan Olympic and Paralympics Committees, and members of the under-20 football team –who qualified for the Olympics- and other sports personalities ahead of the London 2012 Games.

Browne’s agenda also includes a visit to the Football Museum at Montevideo’s Centenary Stadium where the first World Cup was played in 1930. The minister is a keen football fan and is interested in visiting the “Home” of the World Cup.

He is expected to hand over a signed shirt and photographs of Geoff Hurst, who secured a unique place in the history of football when he became the first footballer to secure a hat trick in a World Cup Final, in 1966. The memorabilia will be added to the Museum’s collection.