Foreign minister: Malaysia to increase international representation this year
PUTRAJAYA, Jan 3 — Wisma Putra is planning to increase Malaysia’s international representation and presence while reactivating some of its defunct embassies as well as other forms of diplomatic missions.
Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah told a press conference today that his ministry plans to expand Putrajaya’s influence in six new locations, including sending a Malaysian representative for Israel to be based in Amman, Jordan.
“We will also reactivate the Malaysian embassy in Pyongyang following the recovery of our bilateral relations with North Korea. We will also open a Consulate General in Istanbul Turkey.
“Previously, we had deactivated our diplomatic services in Iraq, Libya and Yemen. We are not ready to be there yet, but we will appoint honorary consuls from among their citizens to ensure that we will at least have a representative there.
“For instance, we had deactivated our embassy in Syria but have already appointed an honorary consul in Damascus,” said Saifuddin Abdullah who was giving a brief on his ministry’s 2019 achievements and 2020 targets.
At the briefing, he outlined 12 achievements and targets, divided into generic ministry achievements and targets; strengthening the ministry; strengthening inter-agency cooperation; and increasing collaboration with the public.
He said that his officers are in discussions with the Jordanian Foreign Ministry to establish a new full Malaysian Embassy for Palestine in Amman. Previously, Saifuddin had said the government had planned to open honorary consuls in Gaza and Ramallah but this could not be realised.
When asked for the reasons behind Putrajaya’s sudden interest in re-establishing its diplomatic ties with Pyongyang, Saifuddin said that Malaysia intends to be “friendly with all countries”.
He added that this is a small show of support over North Korea’s willingness to enter into peace talks with the US and expected the embassy to be established in the first quarter of this year.
“We have stated our view that sometimes you need to motivate people to go to the table to talk. Sometimes, you have to show some kind of support and we all understand there is this unilateral sanction by the UN Security Council while it is trying to negotiate with the PRK.
“We are of the opinion that the US should show some kind of motivation by lifting if not all, at least some of the sanctions,” said Saifuddin.
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