KUCHING (Feb 22) — Hendy Assan is looking forward to promoting interfaith dialogue in his role as the new Malaysian Ambassador to the Holy See.
The Sarawakian from Bau described his new appointment in the See of Rome as “unique” when compared to other ambassadors to other countries.
“The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome where the Pope resides.
“It is a bit unique and we don’t have trade and investments. What we are doing is to promote interfaith dialogue between the different faiths all over the world,” he told reporters after paying a courtesy to Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah at her office here today.
Also joining him were newly appointed Malaysian Ambassador to Brazil Gloria Corina Peter Tiwet and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarawak Regional Office director Zakaria Nasir.
Hendy also said he will be sharing his experience on Malaysia in his role as the new ambassador.
“We will try to share our experience as a progressive Muslim country because they look highly on Malaysia.
“At the same time, we will also look into the welfare of Malaysians who are residing or studying in the Vatican City,” he said, adding that he also hoped to foster social, cultural and educational ties to further strengthen the relationship between Malaysia and the Holy See.
Gloria, who is also from Bau, will be looking at bilateral relations between Malaysia and Brazil with her new appointment as the new Malaysian Ambassador to Brazil.
She said there is a lot of potential for cooperation between the two countries, especially agriculture and trade.
“We are also looking to increase trade between Malaysia and Brazil because our government is very much looking into trade cooperation and bilateral relations between our leaders,” she said
Hendy, Gloria and eight other new Malaysian heads of missions received their Letter of Credence from Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at the Istana Negara on Feb 9.
Hendy previously served as Malaysian Ambassador to Uzbekistan, a post he held since 2018 whereas Gloria was appointed as High Commissioner of Malaysia to Nigeria in 2018 prior to this new appointment.
Meanwhile, Fatimah on behalf of her ministry wished both Hendy and Gloria the best in their new roles.
“We know you have Malaysia as the focus but please don’t forget to highlight Sarawak as well, especially in terms of unity.
“Don’t forget to share the good practices we have here which contribute to the unity among the people of various races and religions as well as about our women and social support system which we have established in order for our Sarawakian society to become an inclusive state,” she said.
