UUM Treaty Room Opens Its Doors Officially
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dato' Saifuddin Abdullah officiated the Opening Ceremony of the UUM Treaty Room which is located at the Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) School of International Studies (SOIS) yesterday.
Accompanying the Minister were UUM Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Ahmad Bashawir Abdul Ghani and UUM COLGIS Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Fuad Othman. The signing of the plaque marked the official opening of the UUM Treaty Room.
Dato’ Saifuddin in his speech described the Treaty Room to be more of a tradition in international relations. Traditionally, a Treaty Room is a venue where officials bear witness the signing ceremony of important events.
"My heartiest congratulations to UUM SoIS for reviving a disciplinary process in international relations and UUM is the first university in Malaysia to have a Treaty Room," he said.
The history of initiating the Treaty Room began when the Management University realised that the setting up of the Treaty Room will complement the International Relations field of study at SoIS.
This room resembles the Treaty Room found at the Wisma Putra building now known as the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR). UUM Treaty Room aims to give ideas and expose students to the actual layout of a Treaty Room.
Since the commencement of operations of the UUM Treaty Room in mid-2015, various activities have been conducted. The simulation programme of the UUM Model of the United Nations, the MOU Signing Ceremony; Diploma in Diplomacy Programme (DiD 2018), as well as lectures related to regional and international institutions to name a few.
Shortly afterwards, Dato’ Saifuddin presented a talk entitled, Malaysian Foreign Policy Under The New Government of Malaysia which enlightened attendees on the foreign policy under the Pakatan Harapan government in the aspect of continuity, at the SoIS Auditorium.
"The change in continuity focuses on the three key components of national interest namely continuing efforts in sovereignty that protects the nation's independence and territorial integrity whilst raising the nation's economic standing in ensuring continuous success and stability," he said.
He said the government had also adopted the Look East Policy 2.0 which was more focused on work ethics and discipline.
As a conclusion, he set the direction, objectives and priorities of foreign policy, which can be shared and valued by all domestic stakeholders, regardless of backgrounds. Moreover, he also mentioned the Importance of implementing effective domestic policies and adopting integrity values before expanding into foreign policy.
Also present were, his wife, Datin Norlin Shamsul Bahri, members of the University Management Committee, international students and campus community.