Baroness Vadera

The Prime Minister has today announced that he has appointed Baroness Shriti Vadera as adviser to next chair of G20, the Republic of Korea, following a request from President Lee.

Her new role, which she will take up from mid October 2009, will be to help manage the transition from the UK to the South Korean Presidency and reflects the growing importance of the G20 group and the UK’s engagement with it.

Baroness Vadera is currently the Minister for Economic Competitiveness, Small Business and Enterprise.

Lord Davies of Abersoch, the Minister for Trade Investment and Business, will assume her BIS ministerial responsibilities. She will not be replaced in her role as joint Cabinet Office minister.

The Prime Minister said:

“The G20 is an increasingly important global group. The previous year has shown the vital importance of working together to deliver jobs, growth, and stability. In her new role Shriti will significantly strengthen the UK’s engagement with the G20, including working with the Republic of Korea as the next chair. I thank her for her dedicated work as a Government minister.”

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said:

“Shriti has made a tremendous contribution to the Department for Business. She has worked tirelessly to ensure businesses, especially small businesses, are supported through the Recession and emerge stronger at the other side.

Shriti has real passion for the G20 and has done excellent work already promoting international action to tackle the financial crisis. So this is a logical move for her and us.

And I know Mervyn Davies is looking forward to taking on her departmental responsibilities. He will do a great job for small business.”

Notes

1. Shriti Vadera will take up her new role from mid October 2009, for which she will not be paid a ministerial salary.

2. Shriti joined the Department for Business as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Competitiveness in January 2008. In October she was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Economic Competitiveness, Small Business and Enterprise, jointly with the Cabinet Office and Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

Prior to that she spent 8 years on the Council of Economic Advisers, HM Treasury and was advisor to Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer.

She was responsible for advising on business and city issues, productivity, enterprise, PPPs, public enterprises and amongst other things, was responsible for the creation of the Shareholder Executive, the Better Regulation Executive and initiating the Hampton, Barker, Eddington, Higgs, Myners and other Reviews.

She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for DfID from June 2007 to January 2008. She has 14 years’ experience as an investment banker, advising on banking, capital markets, project finance and corporate finance internationally.