PRESS RELEASE

HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE BY THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT TO PAKISTAN

Y.B. Datuk Richard Riot anak Jaem, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, presented a cheque today amounting to USD1 million as humanitarian assistance to Dr. Imtiaz A. Kazi, Chargé d’Affaires of the High Commission of Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur. Y.B. Datuk conveyed the cheque on behalf of the Government of Malaysia with Dr. Imtiaz A. Kazi receiving it on behalf of the Government of Pakistan.

2.         The presentation of the cheque was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia. The brief ceremony was attended by officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the High Commission of Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur.

3.         The current massive floods engulfing Pakistan are the worst to have hit the country in 80 years. The floods have severely affected many provinces in Pakistan such as Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, Punjab, and Balochistan, as well as Sindh. The floods have claimed the lives of at least 1,600 people while up to two million people have been displaced and made homeless. The United Nations have reported that about 15 million people have thus far been affected by the floods.

4.         H.E. Yousaf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister of Pakistan has on 10 August 2010, made an appeal to the international community to provide additional humanitarian assistance to the country to support the Government of Pakistan to cope with the growing humanitarian issues and challenges arising from the devastating floods. H.E. Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General also made a similar appeal to the international community recently to provide humanitarian support for the victims of the floods in Pakistan.

5.         The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has at the same time, activated the “Tabung Bencana Kementerian Luar Negeri” Fund to enable the Malaysian public to make monetary contributions to alleviate the sufferings of the victims of the flood in Pakistan.

6.         The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes monetary donations from all Malaysians to contribute to the Fund. The donations, in the form of cheques, should be made payable to “Tabung Bencana Kementerian Luar Negeri”.

The cheque can be forwarded to the following:

Puan Zaitun Hj. Ibrahim

Ketua Akauntan

Kementerian Luar Negeri

No. 1 Jalan Wisma Putra

62602 PUTRAJAYA

Tel      :  03 – 88874251, 03 – 88892924

E-mail :  bencana@kln.gov.my

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia

PUTRAJAYA

12 August 2010