Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Malaysia)
Encyclopedia
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia is the Malaysian government
ministry
which oversees the foreign relations
of Malaysia. The current ministry is based in Putrajaya with Datuk Seri Anifah Aman
as Minister, Senator A. Kohilan Pillay Appu and Datuk Richard Riot Jaem
as the Deputy Ministers.
regional cooperation, human resources management, finance, administration and consular, protocol affairs and Malaysian mission abroad.
and Australia
.
The Ministry of External Affairs was modeled after the British Foreign Office.
Initially, Malaysia had diplomatic missions in London, Washington, Canberra, New York, New Delhi, Jakarta and Bangkok. In 1963, there were fourteen Malaysian missions and twenty-five countries were represented in Malaysia (four by way of concurrent accreditation).
In 1965, the diplomatic machinery of Malaysia faced its first major reorganization. In 1966 ,there was an accelerated growth pattern of the Foreign Ministry particularly with regard to the personnel and the financial allocation for its activities. That year also witnessed a change in the designation of MEA to the preferred terminology of "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" and also saw the physical relocation and consolidation of the Ministry. From its original premises at the Sultan Abdul Samad Building
, the Ministry moved to Wisma Putra
. The Wisma Putra Complex is based on a combination of both traditional and modern architecture.
Politics of Malaysia
The politics of Malaysia takes place in the framework of a federal constitutional monarchy, in which the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is head of state and the Prime Minister of Malaysia is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the federal government and the 13 state governments. ...
ministry
Ministry (government department)
A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...
which oversees the foreign relations
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
of Malaysia. The current ministry is based in Putrajaya with Datuk Seri Anifah Aman
Anifah Aman
Dato' Sri Anifah bin Haji Aman is the current Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation , which is part of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition and a Member of Parliament representing Kimanis in Sabah...
as Minister, Senator A. Kohilan Pillay Appu and Datuk Richard Riot Jaem
Richard Riot Jaem
Datuk Richard Riot Jaem is a Malaysian politician. He is the Deputy Foreign Minister and currently the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Serian constituency in Sarawak, representing the Sarawak United Peoples' Party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition...
as the Deputy Ministers.
Functions
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for managing bilateral, regional and multilateral relations with foreign countries and international organisations. It is responsible for the formulation, planning, and implementation of the foreign policy of Malaysia. It is also responsible for managing external relations with regard to bilateral political and economic affairs, multilateral relations, ASEANAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated ASEAN rarely ), is a geo-political and economic organization of ten countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, membership has...
regional cooperation, human resources management, finance, administration and consular, protocol affairs and Malaysian mission abroad.
History
The origin of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began before Malaysia's independence in 1957. The groundwork for the establishment of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), as it was initially called, was initiated a year prior to Independence particularly with through the training of a batch of eleven diplomats to man the country's diplomatic missions overseas. This pioneering group was trained in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
The Ministry of External Affairs was modeled after the British Foreign Office.
Initially, Malaysia had diplomatic missions in London, Washington, Canberra, New York, New Delhi, Jakarta and Bangkok. In 1963, there were fourteen Malaysian missions and twenty-five countries were represented in Malaysia (four by way of concurrent accreditation).
In 1965, the diplomatic machinery of Malaysia faced its first major reorganization. In 1966 ,there was an accelerated growth pattern of the Foreign Ministry particularly with regard to the personnel and the financial allocation for its activities. That year also witnessed a change in the designation of MEA to the preferred terminology of "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" and also saw the physical relocation and consolidation of the Ministry. From its original premises at the Sultan Abdul Samad Building
Sultan Abdul Samad Building
The Sultan Abdul Samad Building is located in front of the Dataran Merdeka and the Royal Selangor Club, by Jalan Raja in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
, the Ministry moved to Wisma Putra
Wisma Putra
Wisma Putra is another name for the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is also the name of the RM170 million Ministry of Foreign Affairs complex located at the country’s administrative capital, Putrajaya....
. The Wisma Putra Complex is based on a combination of both traditional and modern architecture.