Name career diplomat as next US ambassador, govt told

FMT:

 

Name career diplomat as

next US ambassador, govt

told

Minderjeet Kaur

-12 Feb 2025, 08:18 PM

Parti Bangsa Malaysia president Larry Sng also calls for a special envoy to be appointed to complement the role of the ambassador.

4

Shares

Total Views: 572

Parti Bangsa Malaysia president Larry Sng said with the US being a major trade partner, there was a need for the country’s bilateral ties to be managed wisely.

KUALA LUMPUR: 

A Sarawak MP has suggested that a career diplomat be named as the country’s next ambassador to the US.

Larry Sng (PBM-Julau) also called for the appointment of a special envoy to Washington.

“These appointments could help expedite our diplomatic efforts and broaden our communication channels with the US,” he told the Dewan Rakyat.

Sng said with the US being a major trade partner, there was a need for the country’s bilateral ties to be managed wisely to safeguard “Malaysia’s interests”.

“Also, as Asean chair, it is vital that ties with our major trade partner be strengthened.”

Sng’s call for a career diplomat to be appointed as the country’s next ambassador to the US comes just days after Nazri Aziz’s two-year tenure as the ambassador came to an end.

Last week, former Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming proposed five names for Putrajaya’s consideration as Malaysia’s next ambassador to the US.

They are PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, trade minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz, former CIMB chairman Nazir Razak, former PKR MP Yusmadi Yusoff, and Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia chairman Faiz Abdullah.

When contacted, Sng said he did not agree with appointing politicians to ambassadorial posts.

On the separate role of special envoy, Sng said their task would be more focussed on certain areas and to complement the work carried out by the ambassador.

Meanwhile, Sng said he supports the proposal for the setting up of a unit under the Prime Minister’s Office, similar in function to the department of government efficiency, or DOGE, in the US under the Donald Trump administration.

The Parti Bangsa Malaysia president said adopting a similar approach would not only reduce the country’s expenditure but trim down bureaucracy.

“It could help attract a lot more foreign direct investment,” he said, adding that such a unit should be headed by an experienced business leader who understood the industry’s needs.