Cameron tells diplomats to put trade first

Prime Minister David Cameron arrives at the White House for a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington July 20, 2010.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Diplomats must put securing private-sector contracts at the heart of their work, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday, signalling a shift in UK foreign policy to make it more business-minded.

The government is also expected to consider opening up applications for senior civil service jobs -- including ambassador posts around the world -- to people from the private sector to help engineer the changes in diplomatic culture.

Cameron's Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government wants the private sector -- and a surge in exports -- to drive Britain's economic recovery from an 18-month recession while ministers slash spending to cut a record budget deficit.

Speaking to reporters during his first trip to the United States as premier, Cameron said encouraging diplomats and travelling ministers to scout for trade was "extremely important for Britain as we come out of recession and go into recovery."

"I want to refresh British foreign policy to make it much more focussed on the commercial aspect," he said. "I want to be much more focussed on winning orders for British business overseas."

The coalition has indicated it will pursue a less interventionist foreign policy than the previous Labour government that entered wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, choosing instead to build trading ties to maintain global influence.

Ambassadors and ministers on foreign trips would be expected to draw up lists of opportunities for trade and work hard to woo business as a central goal of their missions.

Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague have met with Britain's overseas ambassadors in London to discuss the changes.

CALL FOR FREE TRADE

The policy could also see greater involvement from Britain's Overseas Aid Ministry, which has extensive ties throughout the private and public sectors in the developing world.

Cameron said the top civil servant at Britain's Business Ministry, Simon Fraser, would move to a similar post at the Foreign Ministry, which would also be given a commercial director.

The Conservative leader, in power since May, said his austerity measures to deal with a budget deficit running at about 11 percent of national output should also help reassure foreign business leaders that Britain is a good place to invest.

"If we don't sort out our public finances, we can't be a dependable trading partner. Our companies won't be serious prospects for investment," he said at a dinner with business leaders in New York, according to extracts from his speech.

He also told the gathering it was important to "re-fight" the argument for free trade.

"It's the biggest stimulus we can give our economies right now," he said. "The whole point about trade is that you're baking a bigger cake. Everyone can benefit from it."

Earlier on Wednesday, Cameron met chief executives from America's leading financial firms, including Citigroup, BlackRock and Morgan Stanley -- and Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler -- to encourage them to keep investing in Britain.

He said he would take "an enormous crew of business leaders" from Britain to India next week to help build a special relationship akin to the one the UK has with the United States.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)