Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE : UK appoints new HM Trade Commissioner to lead UK-MEaP trade and investment relationship [August 2023]

The press release issued by the Department for Business and Trade on 3 August 2023.

Oliver Christian has today been appointed as His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner to the Middle East and Pakistan and His Majesty’s Consul General to Dubai.

The UK’s Department for Business and Trade has today (Thursday 3rd August) appointed Oliver Christian as His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HMTC) to the Middle East and Pakistan and His Majesty’s Consul General to Dubai. He will take up the role in September 2023, while the department undergoes the campaign for the permanent position.

HMTCs lead the UK’s overseas effort to promote UK trade, investment, trade policy and export finance.

As the new Trade Commissioner for the Middle East and Pakistan, Oliver Christian will generate business opportunities for the UK while contributing to the growth of sustainable, resilient, and productive economies across the MEaP region.

Prior to joining the UK’s Department for Business and Trade Oliver was the Head of the Prime Minister’s Business Unit at No10, having served four Prime Ministers from 2019 to 2023. He’s overseen over £78 billion of investment and export deals, establishing the UK Global Investment Summit and the creation of the Office of Investment during his time in No10. He also helped to establish the Department for International Trade as the Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State in 2016 to 2019.