New Permanent Representative of Malaysia Presents Credentials

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service)

The new Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations, Dato’ Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Bin Yaakob, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

Prior to his latest appointment, Mr. Yaakob was Deputy Secretary-General for Bilateral Affairs in his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  From 2013 to 2016, he was Director General of the Malaysia National Secretariat of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

In the course of his diplomatic career, Mr. Yakoob was Malaysia’s Ambassador to Austria and to Vienna-based international organizations between 2010 and 2013, serving also as Ambassador to Slovakia in 2011 and to Qatar from 2007 to 2010.  Before that, he was Under-Secretary-General for Multilateral Political Division in 2005.

A career diplomat, Mr. Yaakob was first posted to the Foreign Ministry as an Assistant Secretary in 1988, serving later at Malaysia embassies in Austria, Slovakia, United States and China.  He also worked in the Foreign Ministry’s American Affairs, International Organizations and East Asia divisions.

Mr. Yakoob holds a bachelor’s degree in ecology from the University of Malaya in Malaysia, and a diploma in public administration.

Born on 21 May 1961 in Bentong, he is married and has four sons.