Asif Ahmad (; 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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 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 colleges of Durham University, 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, ...

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, graduating in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. Later, he attended

INSEAD INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...

and completed its International Executive Program in 1991.

Career

He joined

National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank, trading 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 becam ...

, where he stayed until 1996, during which time he studied at

. 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 Business Link was a government-funded business advice and guidance service established in England in 1992. It consisted of an online portal managed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and a national telephone helpline. The service's network of ...

London in 1996, as a Personal Business Adviser, transferring to the

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

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 UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) was a UK Government department working with businesses based in the United Kingdom to assist their success in international markets, and with overseas investors looking to the UK as an investment destination. It wa ...

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 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

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

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

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

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. 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, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

. 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 The British Muslim Awards are an annual award ceremony that honours the success and achievements of British Muslim individuals, groups and businesses. It was established in 2013. Overview The British Muslim Awards was founded by Oceanic Consult ...

. 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, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours were 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 were awarded a ...

Honours

Key to the City * Vlag Fil Cebu

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

(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