EVALUATION TO ENSURE ONLY THE BEST SERVE AS ENVOYS

PUTRAJAYA, April 20 (Bernama) -- New Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said
today an evaluation would be made to ensure that only the best people served as
Malaysia's envoys abroad so as to deliver a high quality of service.

"Only when we have the right people and the best people in the appropriate
positions can we get the best service possible," he told reporters after
officially taking over Monday from his predecessor Dr Rais
Yatim, who is now Information, Communications and Culture Minister.

He said the country had 105 ambassadors, high commissioners and consuls
general and that it would be his priority to strengthen the missions and upgrade
their services, considering also whether to expand or downsize them.

Anifah said he was not looking only at the vacant positions, adding that the
ministry would carry out monitoring at first and that the evaluation would be
done soon.

He also said that his performance and that of his deputy ministers would be
evaluated as well as "we have the key performance indicators (KPI) now".

The two deputy foreign ministers are Senator A. Kohilan Pillay and Lee
Chee Leong.

-- BERNAMA