New consuls general, directors installed
New consuls general, directors installed
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda on Wednesday
inaugurated four new consuls general and 16 ministry directors,
calling on them to do more to protect Indonesian citizens and
secure national interests in foreign lands.
"Indonesian representatives abroad must open up their offices
and make them a comfortable home away from home for expatriate
Indonesians," the minister said in his speech.
He emphasized that the main duty of a consul general would not
be to deal so much with political affairs, but to provide
protection for the Indonesian expatriate workers and travelers.
Hassan began the restructuring and regeneration of the
ministry when he was appointed as minister in 2001. Despite
objections, he began to appoint many new faces aged under 50 to
take up key positions in the ministry.
Of the 20 officials installed on Wednesday, many have just
finished their first stints abroad.
Additionally, President Megawati just signed a new decree that
will change the organizational structure of the representative
offices abroad.
Under the Presidential Decree No. 108/2003, signed on Dec.31,
the government streamlined the office management with only two
attaches for the defense and technical departments placed under
the embassy's office.
One diplomat was quoted as saying that the main purpose of the
policy was to confirm that the ambassadors and consuls general
abroad are the main representatives of the Indonesian government.
"With the new decree, we hope to intensify coordination
between departments for the sake of national interests abroad,"
Hassan remarked on Wednesday.
New foreign ministry officials
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Name Position
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Benny Permadi Consul General in Houston
Raziaty Tanzil Consul General in San Francisco
Soeharso Budi Consul General in Toronto
Wahid Supriyadi Consul General in Melbourne
Edi Setiabudhi Chief of legal affairs
Budiarman Secretary to the Asia-Pacific
director general
Hamzah Thayeb Director for East Asia and Pacific
Dian Triansyah Djani Director for Asia-Pacific
cooperation
Retno L.P.Marsudi Director for West Europe
Yuli Mumpuni Director America-Europe cooperation
Iwan Wiranataatmadja Director for special politics
Mohammad Oemar Director for multilateral trade and
industry
Nahari Agustini Secretary to the public diplomacy
and international agreements
director general
Arif Havaz Oegroseno Director for political and security
agreement
Lutfi Rauf Director for information and media
Subijaksono Secretary to the protocol and
consular director general
Diene Muhario Director for protocol
Pitono Purnomo Director for ASEAN cooperation
Moenir Arie Sunandha Chief of Asia-Pacific research
Suprapto Martosetomo Chief of International organization
research
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