The People’s Majlis has approved Maldives’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Dr. Asim Ahmed as the country’s envoy to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

53 MPs voted in favour of Asim’s appointment, at Monday’s sitting.

He was appointed as Maldives Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, in August. He received the required parliamentary approval the previous month.

Prior to that, Dr. Asim had been serving as Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He had previously held the post of Minister of Education, served as the President of the Local Government Authority (LGA) and served on a number of boards, committees and high-level councils, including the National Security Council.

Asim completed his Bachelor of Arts (B.A) in Sociology and Politics at the University of South Pacific, Fiji, in 1989. In 1992, he attained a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex, UK. He further completed a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Social Policy at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in 2011.