Six Wisma Putra officials appointed Consul-General

PETALING JAYA: Six Wisma Putra officials have been appointed Consul-General to key cities in China, Saudi Arabia, Australia and the Philippines.

Another will be the new president of the Malaysian Friendship and Trade Centre in Taiwan.

The position in Davao City has been vacant for more than two years.

Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah presented the appointment letters to the seven diplomats on Feb 14.

Consulates offer a number of services, including passport-related matters for Malaysians and visa applications for foreigners.

Some Malaysian consulates also help manage arrangements in joint development projects involving Malaysia in their respective cities or regions.

Principal assistant secretary at the ministry’s Multilateral Security Division Nur Misuari Harun will fill the post as Consul-General in Davao City next month.

He replaces Abdullah Zawawi who served in that position until October 2016.

Sharon Ho Swee Peng, minister-counsellor at the Malaysian Embassy in Vienna, is the new president of the Malaysian Friendship and Trade Centre in Taipei. She takes over from Datuk Adeline Leong who served until May 2018.

Last year, the Dewan Rakyat was told that Leong was one of six political appointees whose services as diplomats were terminated after the last general election.

Deputy director-general at the South-East Asia Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism Mazita Marzuki is the Consul-General to Melbourne; while West Asia Division undersecretary Alauddin Mohd Nor is the Consul-General to Jeddah.

For China, Azlimi Zakaria, principal assistant secretary at the Africa division, will be Consul-General to Nanning while Faizal Shani, principal assistant secretary at the Human Resources Management Division, has been assigned as ConsulGeneral to Kunming.

Yap Wei Sin, previously special officer to the Wisma Putra secretary-general, will serve as ConsulGeneral to Hong Kong.