Complex sentence: He served as Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress from 1997 to 1999 before he was appointed Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology and Minister of State for Trade and Industry in June 1999.
Split into simpler sentences: He served as Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress from 1997 to 1999. Subsequently, he was appointed Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology and Minister of State for Trade and Industry in June 1999.