Nick Archer will be stepping down as British High Commissioner to Malta next month to take up another appointment, eight months before his term of office expires, the British High Commission said yesterday.
Mr Archer started his three-year term in Malta on March 20, 2006.
His last day in office is August 8 and Deputy High Commissioner Janet Hancock will serve as Acting High Commissioner until another High Commissioner is appointed.
Mr Archer said he was leaving Malta to take up another appointment overseas. Asked where he will serve, Mr Archer said this will be announced in about two weeks' time.
Asked why he was leaving eight months early, Mr Archer replied: "(I'm) leaving sooner than I expected because the British government wanted me to take on this new role".
The High Commissioner was posted to Norway in 1995 as head of the Economic and Commercial Section of the Embassy. He served for two years there before returning early to the UK to join the Household of The Prince of Wales as private secretary responsible for the foreign and cultural aspects of Prince Charles' work. He was awarded an MVO for services to the Royal Family in 2001.
Back in the Foreign Office, Mr Archer was head of the North East Asia and Pacific Department from 2001 to 2002 before being named head of the Near East and North Africa Department from 2002 to 2005. Immediately before his arrival in Malta, he worked with the National Audit Office on their report on the British consular response to the tsunami, published in the autumn of 2005.
Asked about the highlights of his term in Malta, Mr Archer said that in the last two years he worked to modernise the relationship between his country and Malta, got to know a new generation of opinion formers and decision makers, boosted educational links between the two countries and worked with Malta within the context of the European Union. He said he was particularly proud of the message on international action on climate change and global poverty which, he said, have resonated with the government and the public alike and stimulated pan-European action.
Moreover, he said he was proud of the development of strategic partnerships with the University of Malta in medicine and dentistry. Maltese student numbers in the UK rose to about 1,000, with the biggest increases registered in creative arts and design.
Furthermore, he expressed his satisfaction that a wider range of British qualifications were on offer in Malta via St Martin's College and the Malta Institute of Management.
In addition to this, he feels proud of the coordination in Brussels on Common Law Heritage and the Working Time Directive, among others, and of having made a "positive difference to Malta's ability to manage the challenge of illegal immigration, with more coordination in the pipeline".