Alatas installs new senior official

JAKARTA: Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas on Friday installed Rachmat Ranudiwidjaya as the new director general for protocol and consular affairs, replacing Dadang Sukandar, who is to be appointed the new ambassador to France.

Rachmat, born in Garut, West Java, in 1944, was a former consul general in New York.

Alatas called on the Directorate General for Protocol and Consular Affairs to improve its public services to foreign visitors and Indonesian people working overseas.

"This directorate general should revitalize its important role in providing protection for Indonesian workers overseas. It should also improve its service for foreign visitors in protocol and consular affairs," he said in his speech at the swearing-in ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The minister said the ministry, through Indonesian embassies, should play a constructive role handling consular problems faced by Indonesian workers abroad.

"Such problems can be solved only if the directorate general enhances cooperation with related government ministries and agencies," he said. (rms)