Britain and Canada share embassy offices in bid to cut costs
Pooling of overseas resources seen as good way to trim budgets for 'first cousins'
Britain and Canada are to establish joint diplomatic missions and share embassy offices overseas in a bid to save money, the countries' foreign ministers announced jointly in Ottawa.
The arrangement would see the sharing of consular services in places where one of the countries did not have an embassy, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday.
For now, it affects only Haiti, where a British diplomat will soon work out of Canada's embassy, and Myanmar, where a Canadian official has already set up an office in the British high commission.
But more locations would be announced later as Canada and Britain look to trim their foreign office budgets by more than US$160 million each, they said.
"Although we don't agree on absolutely everything, we certainly find common ground on most important issues and we bring the same sets of values and principles to the table," Baird told reporters.
This agreement would allow the two countries to reduce costs and delays associated with setting up new embassies.
"The alternative is to waste months or years and many taxpayer dollars setting up embassies from scratch, while keeping our diplomats from delivering services...abroad when and where they are needed the most," said Baird.