Asif Ahmad ( bn, আসিফ আনোয়ার আহমেদ; born 21 January 1956) is a banker-turned-diplomat, having served as a Senior Civil Servant at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. From 2017 to August 2021 he was the British High Commissioner to Jamaica. He was the British Ambassador to Thailand from November 2010 until August 2012. He was the British Ambassador to the Philippines from July 2013 to 2017. He has also been accredited to the Bahamas, Palau and Laos.

Early life

Ahmad was born on 21 January 1956 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. He is the son of the late Salahuddin Ahmad, a Pakistani and later Bangladeshi diplomat and Bandana Ahmad, an expert in social services in the UK. He was educated at the Community High School, Tehran and then Carlisle Technical College. He studied economics at

St Cuthbert's Society St Cuthbert's Society, colloquially known as Cuth's, is a college of Durham University. It was founded in 1888 for students who were not attached to the existing colleges. St Cuthbert's Society is a Bailey college, based on Durham's peninsula next ...

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

, graduating in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. Later, he attended INSEAD and completed its International Executive Program in 1991.

Career

He joined

National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

, where he stayed until 1996, during which time he studied at INSEAD. His banking career included roles in International Banking, oversight of Coutts & Co and as Senior Manager of a network of high street branches centred at County Hall, London. He joined Business Link London in 1996, as a Personal Business Adviser, transferring to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in 1999. After a period in the FCO's Resource and Budgeting Department he was appointed to the Senior Civil Service and served as Head of the Commonwealth Department. In 2003, Ahmad was seconded to the Prime Minister's Office where he served as head of the Communication and Information Centre for a period, and then to UK Trade and Investment where he was Director, Asia from 2004 until 2008. He returned to FCO policy work as head of the South East Asia and Pacific department, dealing with issues relating to

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

countries, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. For a short period in 2009, he ran the British embassy in

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

. In 2010, Ahmad was appointed as Her Majesty's Ambassador to Thailand and

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. Apart from the UK, he has lived in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Japan, China, Poland, Thailand, Philippines and Jamaica. From July 2013 to July 2017 he was British Ambassador to the Philippines and to

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

. In August 2017 he became the British High Commissioner to Jamaica.

Awards and recognition

In January 2014, Ahmad was nominated for the Civil Servant of the Year award at the British Muslim Awards. In 2017, Ahmad was appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

Honours

Key to the City * Vlag Fil Cebu

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

(12 March 2015)

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad, Asif Anwar 1956 births Living people English Muslims English people of Bangladeshi descent Members of HM Diplomatic Service Alumni of St Cuthbert's Society, Durham INSEAD alumni Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Laos Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Thailand Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Philippines Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Palau Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to the Bahamas 21st-century British diplomats