| [IC] Invitiation from Vimmru II to Ura'sia Yena Yamera-Hyudo |
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Government of Sedunn
Grovne
2016-11-17
Invitation to Grovne Your Excellency, Ura'sia, Yena Yamera-Hyudo, Our two nations have always enjoyed good and stable relations, however, there is still potential for deepened cooperation in many areas. Therefore, it would be a great honour to have Your Excellency as our guest here in Grovne at any time of Your Excellency's convenience before New Year, to further discuss possible future collaboration efforts. Eagerly awaiting Your Excellency's response, [Image: korl4YC.png] Vimmru II King of Sedunn OOC: The letter above is written in Syaqin Aren (  ). Should the Ura'sia accept, this thread can be used for further communication.
Ura'siafa Erinead
Ciria
21/11/2016
Vimmru II, King of Sedunn,
My apologies for the delay in replying to your most welcome invitation. As you are no doubt aware, things have been rather hectic of late in Ciria, with the recent referendum and the popular reaction to it requiring a lot of my time and attention, and I wanted to make sure that this reply would have the care and attention it is due. I too value the relationship between our nations and hope that we might make more of it and so I would be delighted to accept your invitation.
Affairs of state will keep me busy for the next week, but there is space in my diary the week after that. I will have my office send over some possible dates and, hopefully, we will be able to meet soon.
Warmest regards,
Ura'sia Yena Yamera-Hyudo.
"Innienn!" a man walking with determined steps towards king Vimmru II almost shouted. "The rain is intensifying, most likely it won't stop within the hour. We are proceeding with plan B."
"Okay. Great. Thanks" Vimmru replied. "Will it be the garage, or still the main entrance?" "We found a good party tent to cover most of the way from the doors to your car" Jikalu, the head of the Government's Reception and Representation staff replied. "Alright", the king replied and stood up from the leather armchair he had been sitting in since arriving at the VIP gate at Grovne Southern Airport. The king was shown to another gate that had a boarding bridge, which now was hastily being prepared to receive the Ura'sia, Yena Yamera-Hyudo. The unexpected rain had made it rather impractical to greet the Ura'sia on the landing strip as customary. On his way to the office at gate 56 where he would wait for the Erinoran, Vimmru could see the ceremonial guards of the Guard Brigade practise their act while fighting for the much more limited space with military band and the service personnel rolling out the red carpet. He could also see a fragile looking plant being carefully placed on a stand by the carpet - a nosevbradd to be handed over to the Ura'sia. The king entered the office and closed the door behind him. He was going to review the time table one last time. 20 minutes had passed when the door opened again. "They are docking now", Jikalu said from just outside the room. "Very good." Vimmru replied "No issues relocating, I presume?" "No. You can proceed with your programme." Jikalu nodded. The king proceeded to the red carpet and waited for the doors to the boarding bridge to open. As they slid open, a command could be heard which prompted the soldiers to stand at attention and present arms. As the two nation's leaders approached each other, the king picked up the nosevbradd from the stand. The nosevbradd was a young pear tree, and was going to be handed over as the traditional Sedunnic sign of friendship and trust. Caring for the plant and letting it grow into a proper tree would be a great honour to the Sedunners. After a short ceremony at the airport, the king and the ura'sia were taken to the Great Grovne Palace for lunch and formal discussions. As customary, lunch was served in the Northern Dining Hall, which warm and welcoming atmosphere helped against the sad weather. The leaders were shown to a table by a large window. "May I interest Your Excellency in wine from the castle garden?" king Vimmru asked when seated.
Yena Yamera-Hyudo, Ura'sia Erinead glanced around the Northern Dining Hall of the Great Grovne Palace and smiled. It was a far cry from the sometimes stifling heat of Ciria at this time of year and yet it had a homely, welcoming feel that put her completely at her ease.
"Yes, that would be delightful, I'm sure," she replied. "Thank you for the welcome at the airport. It was truly wonderful to enjoy Sedunnic culture like that right off the plane. I only hope we can be as welcoming whenever you are able to visit Ciria." She gazed out the window for a moment before turning back to her host. "Now, you mentioned in your invitation areas of deepening co-operation. What areas did you have in mind, in particular?"
Vimmru nodded. Yena sure was eager to get right to it.
"In brief involving trade facilitation, student exchange programmes, but perhaps most importantly national security." The king paused when a young man appeared with a dark bottle of wine. "I would like to suggest the 2009 Irta, an excellent year", the sommelier said proudly. Indeed an excellent year, Vimmru thought, thinking of his nomination to king. "Thank you", the king responded. As customary in Sedunn, he left the bottle on the table, and let the host fill the guest's glass. "The Irta wine is made from grapes from the garden across the boulevard, belonging to the King's Residence, or the Little Grovne Palace", Vimmru said while pouring some wine in Yena's glass. "I hope you like it." He then continued on the previous topic. "We are already engaged in most of those areas through the SCO. However, as you already know, the SCO is struggling, and is heavily polarised. I like to think we can accomplish more bilaterally, and I believe we share many critical values. I am sure you have some things you would like to discuss as well?"
Yena nodded. "Yes. We've been very disappointed with SCO since joining. We were hoping for an opportunity for greater cooperation with other nations in our region, but instead, we appear to have attached ourselves to a stagnating bureaucracy that achieves nothing, whatever it might have been in its glory days. I think you may be right about the necessity for bilateral action. "
She took a sip of the 2009 Irta, let the flavour fill her senses and swallowed it slowly. "This wine is excellent! Erinor isn't a wine producing country, so we have to import - it's been that way for centuries, but I do not think we ever get anything as fine as this. Perhaps there's a market for Sedunnic wines in Erinor... "Now, as I understand it, Erinor has been trading with Sedunn for over a century at least, but, owing to the great distance between our nations, we've never been major trade partners. Perhaps, in this modern age of an ever-shrinking globe, that can change. I would certainly be interested in coming up with a better trade deal than has been available to use before now."
"Indeed", Vimmru responded. "Sedunn's strong position as one of the prime tourist destinations for Erinorans, Erinor's increasing popularity among Sedunnic tourists, and Mr. Opalen's film project show that distance no longer is the an obstacle for movement."
A long distant rumble could be heard, despite the thick safety windows. The rain intensified to near-Biblical proportions, and the king shook his head. "We usually have the weather on our side... Anyway. Other than reducing customs duties, one way to facilitate trade further is to align product specifications on consumer goods. This would include standards on product testing, labelling, and conformity checks, in the absence of a global system. We were hoping there would have been such an initiative coming from the private sector."
"But of course the Private Sector isn't keen on the amount of paperwork and regulation that that would cause," Yena replied with a sigh, "but I agree that it is sorely needed in a large number of areas. If we were to begin such a project it could set a global standard, if we can demonstrate the trade benefits would greatly outnumber the costs. We are small nations and our economies are not, perhaps, world-leading, but they could still set an example in this area. I would be very keen to see it done. Besides, I think the ES standard has a nice ring to it, don't you?"
Vimmru smiled. "Indeed. Like a blackbird in the evening. Very good then."
Two waiters approached the table and put down two bowls of steaming soup and roasted bread with a herb filling. "Most suiting for this weather, I would say. Asparagus soup, with this bread called 'garden's delight'." When they had been left alone again, the King continued. "We believe student exchange programs and having international students is a great way of boosting productiveness and creativity, and dare I say fraternity between peoples. Sedunn has committed itself to offer tuition-free admission to our universities for international students, since having passed a recent law. What is Erinor's policy regarding this?"
Yena enjoyed the savoury taste of the bread and soup and let its warmth sink in as she stared out at the rain for a moment longer, then she turned her attention back to the King.
"Education is one of our key priorities, but, despite all the years since the revolution, it has never really had the reach to the poorer strata of our society that is needed. We're working on legislation to improve the quality of education for all Erinorans and Serevans and part of this means removing tuition fees from our Universities." She took a sip of her wine, then continued. "This means that, financially, there might not be much budget left for providing tuition-free admission to international students, but we do also recognise the importance of international students to our economy, our tourism industry, the connections between our academic research efforts and those of the rest of the international community and the positive impact that exposure to people from a diverse range of nations and cultures has on our native students during their time at university. There must be some balance." She paused in thought for a moment, taking another bite of the delicious bread and making a mental note to find out the recipe so that she could reproduce it for her partner for their upcoming anniversary weekend. "Perhaps we could go halfway and provide some financial assistance for international students without offering completely tuition-free admission?" |
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