In diplomacy news, Monaco has welcomed a series of new Ambassadors who will play an important role in the Principality’s international relations.
On 6th November, Marie-Catherine Caruso-Ravera, Director of Diplomatic and Consular Relations, received during a lunch organised at the Hermitage Hotel, Ambassador of Japan Makita Shimokawa, Ambassador of the Republic of Finland Matti Anttonen, Ambassador of the Republic of Sudan Dr. Khalid Mohamed Farah Elfahal, and Datin Paduka Hajah Rakiah Abdul Lamit, Ambassador of Brunei Darussalam.
Earlier, the diplomats presented their Letters of Credence to Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Who are Monaco’s newest ambassadors?
Makita Shimokawa is a law graduate from the University of Tokyo and enarque (Fernand Braudel promotion), and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in 1984. After holding various positions at the Bureau of Economic Affairs, he was appointed Ambassador of Japan in Indonesia in 2011 then Director General of Cultural Affairs in 2016. From 2019 to 2022 he was Ambassador of Japan to Belgium and to NATO.
In office since September 2022 as Ambassador of Finland to France, Matti Anttonen, holder of a master’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in political science, began his career in 1986 in foreign affairs and served in Paris, Stockholm, Moscow, Washington and Geneva. Finnish Ambassador to Stockholm and Moscow, he was also State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2018 to 2022.
Dr. Khalid Mohamed Farah Elfahal holds a bachelor’s degree in letters from the University of Khartoum as well as a master’s degree in diplomacy and international studies from Washington International University. From 1986 to 2006, he was a diplomatic agent in several departments at the headquarters of the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Subsequently, he was Ambassador to many African countries (Senegal, Mali, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Angola and Sao Tome and Principe). Since September 2023, he has been the non-resident Ambassador of Sudan to Portugal.
Finally, Datin Paduka Hajah Rakiah Abdul Lamit holds a degree in social anthropology from the University of Kent, UK. Joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brunei in 1985, she held several positions before being appointed Ambassador of Brunei to Brazil and Argentina and subsequently to Europe.
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Photo from left to right: Makita SHIMOKAWA, Datin Paduka Hajah Rakiah ABDUL LAMIT, Marie-Catherine CARUSO-RAVERA, Matti ANTTONEN, and Dr. Khalid Mohamed Farah ELFAHAL. Credit Manuel Vitali – Communications Department