{"id":842840,"date":"2025-04-22T18:12:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T23:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/22\/uk-ambassadors-to-have-growth-kpis-foreign-secretary-tells-trade-summit\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T18:12:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T23:12:02","slug":"uk-ambassadors-to-have-growth-kpis-foreign-secretary-tells-trade-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/22\/uk-ambassadors-to-have-growth-kpis-foreign-secretary-tells-trade-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"UK ambassadors to have growth \u2018KPIs\u2019, foreign secretary tells trade summit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The UK\u2019s ambassadors will have \u201cKPIs that contribute to our economic growth\u201d as diplomats shift to a more economic mindset, the foreign secretary David Lammy has said. Photo: PA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The UK\u2019s ambassadors will have \u201cKPIs that contribute to our economic growth\u201d as diplomats shift to a more economic mindset, the foreign secretary has said.<\/p>\n

David Lammy told an audience of businesses that he wants the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to become the \u201cinternational delivery arm of the government\u2019s missions, the first of which is kick starting economic growth\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) conference<\/a> \u2013 Driving International Trade 2025 \u2013 in the City of London on Thursday, Lammy pledged: \u201cFor the first time, our ambassadors and our missions in these key markets will have KPIs that contribute to our economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lammy told City AM<\/em>: \u201cI want to ensure that the FCDO is absolutely the engine of delivering growth as a central mission on behalf of this government, and the City can play a huge role in supporting us and taking part, I hope, in the initiatives I announced.\u201d<\/p>\n

The foreign secretary used his speech to announce plans for: a new geopolitical unit impact unit based at the foreign office to share insights with firms; diplomats to be seconded to leading British businesses and vice versa; a new advisory hub within the BCC to support SMEs with geopolitics; and a quarterly business engagement series, at Lancaster House.<\/p>\n

He also confirmed all of the UK\u2019s ambassadors and high commissioners would become honorary presidents of their host countries\u2019 Chambers of Commerce, as well as working with regional trade commissioners to produce strategic economic growth plans.<\/p>\n

Foreign office \u2018upskill\u2019<\/h2>\n

It comes as the foreign office aims to shift to a more growth-based focus, which Lammy said would require \u201cboth a serious upskill and a sustained cultural transformation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lammy, who also announced a \u201csecond diplomat\u201d would be seconded to the UK\u2019s largest aerospace, defence and security firm, BAE Systems, said: \u201cFrom the next financial year, all ambassadors in priority markets will be assessed against their delivery of trade and investment wins overseas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom now on, I\u2019ve told my ambassadors that they should give equal weight to their contacts in business as well as in politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he added: \u201cI know that in 2025, every successful CEO is a form of foreign secretary, and the team around you know what it means to be diplomats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I need to understand key countries, I found it\u2019s often you in business that knows the key players best, that sense the risks first, but see the opportunities clearest, and can provide the most unvarnished advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hinge markets<\/h2>\n

Lammy said the UK\u2019s closest relationships set to \u201cgenerate the greatest return on investment for UK plc in the medium term\u201d were still the European Union, China and the United States.<\/p>\n

But he also said he wanted FCDO staff to \u201clook beyond the obvious\u201d, citing a recent visit to Japan with business secretary Jonathan Reynolds.<\/p>\n

But pressed further by City AM<\/em>, Lammy added that \u201cdetailed work is going on in the department to look at these new hinge markets that are so important to our future economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly, India is hugely important. There are countries in the Gulf, but there are emerging economies like Indonesia, where we\u2019ve got to play a greater role.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He stressed: \u201cI do want our diplomats spending more time in your businesses and you spending more time with us.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI do want our ambassadors being far better connected to your businesses at work overseas and indeed in this country\u2026 reminding us that we aren\u2019t just there to understand the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Training ambassadors<\/h2>\n

While BCC director-general Shevaun Haviland<\/a> told City AM<\/em>: \u201cThe British chambers work closely with our embassies, so they generally have good relationships with embassies, consulates, and high commissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she stressed: \u201cWhat we\u2019ve been saying to the FCDO is let\u2019s be a bit more systematic and intentional about that. Let\u2019s help train our ambassadors, especially if our ambassadors don\u2019t have a lot of commercial background on our understanding.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s brief them. Let\u2019s train them so then when they go to market, [and] they automatically become President of the Chamber\u2026 but that means they\u2019re much closer to UK businesses in places they can use the UK, [and] UK pls to help them navigate\u2026 their new territory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Haviland stressed: \u201cThey should be gold dust for the ambassador. They should be strong partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

The BCC boss, who will take a delegation of leading British businesses to Washington, alongside Reynolds to meet with the UK\u2019s US ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson, added: \u201cHe certainly has a tightrope to tread. I do not wish that role on many people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Lord Mandelson\u2019s definitely the man for the job and we\u2019re looking forward to seeing him [in Washington].\u201d<\/p>\n

Ali Lyon contributed reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Friday 21 March 2025 7:03 am The UK\u2019s ambassadors will have \u201cKPIs that contribute to our economic growth\u201d as diplomats shift to a more economic mindset, the foreign secretary David Lammy has said. Photo: PA The UK\u2019s ambassadors will have \u201cKPIs that contribute to our economic growth\u201d as diplomats shift to a more economic mindset<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":842841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27404,23317],"tags":[64420,5805],"class_list":{"0":"post-842840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","8":"category-growth","10":"tag-growth"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}