Petra Menander

Ms. Petra Menander took up her duties at the Embassy of Sweden in New Delhi in August 2026.

Before arriving in India, Ms. Menander had spent four years as the ambassador of Sweden to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen, at the Embassy of Sweden in Riyadh. Prior to that, 2018-2022, she was the Head of Project Exports and International Procurement within the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm. A particular personal focus was on bringing forward leading Swedish solutions for green transition. She was the senior official in charge of the Swedish Export Credit Agency and member of the board of Swecare, a public/private sector platform for internationalization of Swedish healthcare.

Ms. Menander’s career at the Ministry began in 2000, focusing on development and trade policy as well as EU affairs. She was appointed Deputy Permanent Representative to UNEP and UN-HABITAT at the Swedish embassy in Nairobi (2004-07). Returning to Stockholm, she became the Director/Deputy Head of department for Multilateral Development Co-operation (2007-11), member of the Board at the Climate Investment Funds and the Global Environment Facility. Simultaneously, she was Sweden’s lead negotiator in replenishments for the African Development Bank/Fund.

During 2011-12, Ms. Menander worked at the African Development Bank headquarters in Tunis as advisor to the Chief Operating Officer. She also headed the Secretariat for coordination of the support by International Financial Institutions (World Bank, IMF, IsDB, OFID, AFESD etc) to economic transition in countries in North Africa and the Levant.

2013-18 Ms. Menander joined the business community as Chief Business Development Officer at Skane Care, providing access for international clients to Swedish healthcare expertise through training, consultancy services and direct medical care.

In the early days as a diplomat, Ms. Menander served at the EU delegation in Jordan, also covering Yemen (1998-2000). This followed on internships with the European Commission in Brussels and the World Bank in Cairo, Egypt.

Ms. Menander holds a M.Sc. in Economics (development/trade) from Lund University. She has participated in volunteering assignments regarding women leadership as well as for refugees in Sweden. She is fluent in Swedish, English and has basics in French, Arabic, German as well as Scandinavian languages.