JEDDAH, 21 July 2003 — “The first few weeks are going to be particularly interesting, because I shall do a lot of listening and get to know the Jeddah business and social culture,” says Carsten Pigott, the newly appointed British consul general to Jeddah who arrived to take up his duties at the beginning of July.
No stranger to the Middle East and a previous visitor to Saudi Arabia, this is his first long term appointment here. He says that the abiding interest he gets from his many postings is that there is always something new and diverting to learn about the culture, business practices or the traditions of the country he finds himself in.
A thoroughly traveled man and widely experienced in African and Arab cultures, his peripatetic career has involved long and short term postings in 47 countries ranging through the Middle East, North and West Africa, North and Central America and China.
Married with two children now at university, his family accompanied him on many of his travels. For the last five years, he held a management consultancy post at the Foreign Office in London.
Initially posted to Nigeria and Sudan, where he spent three and a half years, he moved on to Lebanon, where he began to learn Arabic. “Events there overtook us and I returned to London to complete my studies and then went to Khartoum attached to the commercial section,” he said.
Moving on to Libya for two years, once again events overtook him and his stay was cut short in 1984 when Britain severed diplomatic ties following the Libyan embassy siege.
A spell in London on the Libyan, Jordan and Syrian desks ended when a tour in China sent him on his travels once more.
“That four-year tour was particularly challenging,” he said, “because I was involved in the tremendously complex negotiations concerning the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese government.”
With the successful conclusion of the handover, Carsten Pigott spent a period as Deputy Head of Personnel Policy before returning to Africa as Deputy Head of Mission in Ethiopia. “I was able to get a close view of the very intricate political structure of Eritrea and Somalia while there,” he said.
There followed a spell in New Delhi in the political section and a spell based in London. For the last five years, he has held the rather imperial-sounding position of Senior Inspector of Overseas Posts.
“It’s a rather grand title,” he said. “It’s not really inspection in the critical sense. The function is more one of management consultancy. Some consulates have a political bias, others are mainly business oriented. The Jeddah mission inclines heavily toward business. Of course, we handle the interests of British citizens living in the Kingdom as well — naturally, it’s part of the job.”
Commenting on investment from the UK he said: “There is still some caution in British companies to invest in the area. There’s a tendency to invest in Europe and other traditional markets. But there are huge opportunities here for all sorts of industries to our mutual benefit, both in the visible and invisible sectors.”
He sees his official role in Jeddah as one of maintaining and developing the links between Saudi Arabia and Britain in commerce and culture. “I am truly looking forward to getting out and about and meeting people both formally and informally,” he said. “This initial period is busy but rewarding, interacting with new people.”
