Owen Jenkins is the British Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor-Leste. He took up his post in July 2019.
Before his appointment as Ambassador, Owen was the British Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, responsible for engaging at the highest levels in the region and internationally on issues such as the Afghan peace process, cooperation on counter-terrorism and bilateral relations. He was also the Director at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) responsible for South Asia and Afghanistan, covering Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan. This involved overseeing all of the UK’s diplomatic engagement in the region, including responsibility for over 3000 staff and an operational budget of £120M+.
A career diplomat, Owen joined the FCO in 1991. He has served in British missions in Turkey, Argentina, Brussels (at the UK’s representation to the EU) and India, where he was based at the UK government’s development arm, DFID. He has worked on diverse issues, from the Balkan wars of the 1990s to climate change and economics, with a consistent interest in international security, emerging markets and the links between prosperity and sustainability.
Outside work, Owen enjoys reading almost anything (but particularly novels, popular science and history), outdoor pursuits, including climbing and sailing (at both of which he is rapidly being outclassed by his three children) and travelling. As a north Londoner, he supports Arsenal.
Over the past 30 years Iwan has focused on the energy sector, corporate finance and infrastructure. Prior joining a Castlerock, he was working in multi-national company and responsible for project development and structuring, corporate finance, and dealing with government regulation in various infrastructure companies. Since moving to consulting, he has lead several projects, such as assignment to help the Government of Indonesia establish the Public Private Partnership Central Unit (P3CU); prepared an Investor Guide for PPP Infrastructure in Indonesia; assisted PLN Geothermal with the formulation of its corporate strategy; prepared a geothermal pricing policy for MEMR (DG New and Renewable and Energy Conservation); assisted the Provincial Government of Aceh to strengthen the capacity of the tender committee for the Seulawah Agam geothermal project; supported and provided TA to PT-SMI to originate, finance, evaluate and monitor RE and EE projects. Now Iwan leads the Brokerage strand under the four-year program named Mentari (Indonesia Low Carbon Energy Programme)
Yonathan manages the relationship between the private sector and the 11 UK Government’s Prosperity Fund Programs in Indonesia. He is also FCO’s lead for the brokerage strand of the Mentari Program (Indonesia Low Carbon Energy Program, a UK-Indonesia bilateral technical assistance program aimed to help Indonesia develop its renewable energy sector. The program also involves a Southeast Asian work strand in the green finance sector. Yonathan’s previous role includes the sector lead for energy in UK’s Department for International Trade in Jakarta and also a consultant focusing on Indonesia’s renewable energy landscape.