This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Avatar photo

Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

Part of UK in Australia

31st July 2014

NSW Premier says economic ties with UK strong and growing

New South Wales Premier Mike Baird, almost exactly 100 days in office, addressed an Australian British Chamber of Commerce lunch in Sydney yesterday. He described the state’s trade and investment links with Britain as large and growing, something he is keen to continue. British companies are major investors in NSW; many of them were represented among the 300 or so guests at the lunch.

He also set out the returning confidence of the NSW economy, supported by an impressive array of metrics. He detailed the state government’s programme of recycling capital from ports privatisation into new investment in infrastructure, particularly in transport. There is significant British commercial interest in NSW’s road and rail programmes, and our UK Trade & Investment team are actively promoting it as a “High Value Opportunity”. The Premier had an opportunity to discuss this with our Trade Minister Lord Livingston when he visited Sydney earlier this month.

Mike knows the UK well, from his days as a banker in London, and I enjoyed chatting with him at the lunch.

HE Paul Madden, Premier Mike Baird, Chamber CEO David McCredie
HE Paul Madden, Premier Mike Baird, Chamber CEO David McCredie

About Paul Madden

Paul Madden has been the British Ambassador to Japan from January 2017. He was Additional Director for Asia Pacific at the FCO in 2015.He was British High Commissioner to Australia…

Paul Madden has been the British Ambassador to Japan from January 2017.

He was Additional Director for Asia Pacific at the FCO in 2015.He was British High Commissioner to Australia until February 2015. Prior to this he was British High Commissioner in Singapore from 2007-2011.

A career diplomat, he was previously Managing Director at UK Trade and Investment (2004-2006), responsible for co-ordinating and
implementing international trade development strategies to support
companies across a wide range of business sectors.

As Assistant Director of Information at the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (2003-2004) he was responsible for public diplomacy policy,
including managing the FCO funding of the BBC World Service, the British
Council and the Chevening Scholarships programme. He led the team
responsible for the award-winning UK pavilion at the Aichi Expo in Japan
2005.

He was Deputy High Commissioner in Singapore from 2000-2003 and has
also served in Washington (1996-2000) and Tokyo (1988-92). Between
1992-96 he worked on EU enlargement and Environmental issues at the FCO
in London.

Before joining FCO he worked at the Department of Trade and Industry
(1980-87) on a range of industrial sectors and trade policy, including
two years as a minister’s Private Secretary.

He has an MA in Economic Geography from Cambridge University, an MBA
from Durham University, studied Japanese at London University’s School
of Oriental and African Studies, and is a Fellow of the Royal
Geographical Society. His first book, Raffles: Lessons in Business
Leadership, was published in 2003.

Married to Sarah, with three children, he was born in 1959, in Devon.

Follow Paul