Biographical Note

HASMY AGAM OF MALAYSIA ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF FOURTH COMMITTEE

Hasmy Agam, the Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations, was elected Chairman of the General Assembly's Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) this afternoon.

In his capacity as the Malaysian Permanent Representative, which he assumed in April 1998, Mr. Agam served as President of the Security Council twice -- in July 1999 and August 2000.  He had previously been his country's Alternate Permanent Representative to the Organization from 1989 to 1990 and again from 1996 to 1998.

From 1993 to 1997, Mr. Agam served in his country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first, as the Secretary-General of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Division and, subsequently, as the Deputy Secretary-General for International Organization Affairs.

Mr. Agam was Malaysia's Ambassador to France, with concurrent accreditation to Portugal, from 1990 to 1993, and Ambassador to Libya, with concurrent accreditation to Malta, from 1986 to 1989.  He was also Under-Secretary for South-East Asia, from 1983 to 1984, and Planning (1984 to 1986).

In 1981 he became head of Malaysia's Centre for International Relations and Diplomacy, having served in various capacities at the Political Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1968, including assignments in his country's diplomatic missions in Saigon, Washington, D.C., Hanoi and London.

Mr. Agam obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, and his Master of Arts in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University in Medford Massachusetts.

He is married, with two daughters.

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