Malaysia's Permanent Representative (PR) to ASEAN, H.E. Mr. Dato' Hasnudin Bin Hamzah, presented his letter of credentials to the Secretary-General of ASEAN, H.E. Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, at a ceremony held at the ASEAN Secretariat, a statement released by the ASEAN Secretariat said here on Thursday.

During the presentation of the letter of credentials on Wednesday, Dr. Surin welcomed the Malaysian PR while expressing his appreciation to Malaysia for its commitment to ASEAN and commending the valuable contribution of the Committee of the Permanent Representatives to ASEAN as a whole.

In a meeting that followed the presentation ceremony, Ambassador Dato' Hasnudin brought up the idea of a stronger civil service cooperation in ASEAN to contribute to ASEAN Community building.

Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Dato' Hasnudin was the Deputy Director-General Special Functions, ASEAN-Malaysia National Secretariat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In recent years, he was High Commissioner of Malaysia to New Zealand (2009) and Ambassador of Malaysia to Jordan and concurrently accredited to Iraq (2006).

According to the ASEAN Charter, each ASEAN Member State shall appoint a Permanent Representative to ASEAN with the rank of Ambassador based in Jakarta. Collectively, the Permanent Representatives constitute the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR), whose tasks include supporting the work of the ASEAN Community Councils and coordinating with ASEAN National Secretariats and other ASEAN Sectoral Ministerial Bodies. The CPR also liaises with the Secretary-General of ASEAN and the ASEAN Secretariat.