Iraq Hopes Malaysia Will Reopen Embassy In Baghdad

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 (Bernama) -- Iraq hopes Malaysia will reopen its embassy in Baghdad, to improve bilateral relations between the two countries, especially in the education sector to provide a wider opportunity for Iraqis to pursue studies in this country. Deputy head of mission of the Embassy of Iraq in Malaysia, Hassan Muhsen Al-Haidari said currently there were over 5,000 Iraqi students studying in Malaysia, at both public and private universities or colleges. "Malaysia has become a significant destination for Iraqis to further their studies, and we believe that if Malaysia reopens its embassy in Baghdad, the number of Iraqi students here would be doubled. "The establishment of the embassy will provide a proper and easier way for Iraqis to enter Malaysia and this would benefit a lot of Iraqis," he told a media conference after launching the Iraq Professional Consultancy Association in Malaysia (IPCAM), here Wednesday. Besides education, he said the embassy would also help to boost cooperation between Malaysia and Iraq in other areas such as economy and tourism. According to a report, Malaysia shut down its embassy in Baghdad in March 2003 due to the domestic unrest in Iraq. On the IPCAM, Hassan said the embassy and Iraqis welcomed the initiative as it would help and guide its students here to pursue their educational goals in the most effective way. "The number of Iraqi students in Malaysia is increasing, some of them came here through agents and there are some cases where they got cheated by agents. The establishment of IPCAM will assist Iraqi students here," he said. A collaboration between several public and private universities and colleges, the IPCAM is a professional consultancy organisation which will provide consultant services to aid in education, student placement, programme exchanges, training and workshops to ensure that safe and top quality education is attainable for Iraqi students. -- BERNAMA