London: Kumar Iyer has been appointed by the UK government as the Chief Economist of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), making him the first Indian-origin member of the dept’s management board.
Iyer, who was born in London and spent his early years in India, has previously been based in Mumbai as Britain’s Deputy High Commissioner. In this new role as the Chief Economist, which commences in July, he will lead the FCO’s Economics Unit which provides in-house economic analysis input into foreign policy formulation, and also develops economics capability within the FCO through the Economics and Prosperity Faculty of the Diplomatic Academy.
“He brings insight of global economics and international finance, and experience of working on economic diplomacy and prosperity abroad,” Sir Simon McDonald, UK Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, said on Thursday.
“Kumar will also become our first BAME [black and minority ethnic] FCO Board Member, marking a significant step in ensuring diversity across the FCO, particularly within the FCO’s leadership,” McDonald said. After a few childhood years in India, Iyer moved back to the UK aged 11 to be based in Stoke-on-Trent in central England.
-Aditi Khanna
