Mr Christopher Cutajar is Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs, which is also responsible for International Trade. He is the senior public official within the Ministry, heading its administration and coordinating all its departments.

Mr Cutajar’s career within the public administration began in 2011, when he served as Executive Secretary for Local Councils and for the national Local Councils’ Association. In June 2016, he was appointed Permanent Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects, in which capacity he served for four years. During this period, he coordinated major projects such as the regeneration of Triton Square, which is a landmark at the entrance of Valletta. He was also Deputy Chairperson of the Maritime Security Committee.

Mr Cutajar was appointed to his current role in 2020. During his tenure, he has worked closely with Malta’s Ministers for Foreign Affairs to draft Malta’s Foreign Policy Strategy, launched in 2022, and other documents which set out Malta’s Foreign Policy, including the Foreign Policy Statement 2025-2026 and the Regional Framework Policies which set out Malta’s approach to various regions.

Mr Cutajar furthermore coordinated Malta’s multilateral efforts during this period, including its non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council for the period 2023-2024; the Chairpersonship-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2024, which was culminated by a successful OSCE Ministerial Council that took place in Malta in December of that year; and Malta’s Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe from May to November 2025.

From December 2024 to June 2026, Mr Cutajar was also the Permanent Secretary responsible for Tourism, when this policy area was part of the remit of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Tourism.

Mr Cutajar holds an Honours Degree and an Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of Malta. He has studied the Law of the Sea at the Summer Academy of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg.

In his younger days, he was a civil society activist as the leader of the General Workers’ Union Youths, the editor of a local journal, and Financial Officer on the Executive Committee of the National Youth Council. He is an avid reader with an interest in literature and history.

Mr Cutajar was born in 1985, and he is married with one son. He is fluent in Maltese, English and Italian, and conversant in Spanish.