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INSTITUTE OF DIPLOMACY AND FOREIGN RELATIONS INSTITUTE OF DIPLOMACY AND FOREIGN RELATIONS
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MALAYSIA MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MALAYSIA
IDFR IN
30 YEARS
The Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations officially opened on 8 January 2009, by Prime Minister
(IDFR) was initially started as a centre and Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, and designated as the
inaugurated as the Centre for International Relations campus of IDFR.
and Strategic Studies in 1979. It operated as part
of the Government Officers Training Centre of the
National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN).
On 8 March 1991, it was rebranded as an institute,
following a Cabinet decision on its establishment
for a dedicated entity on all matters related to
diplomacy and foreign relations. The institute
was officially placed under the Prime Minister’s
Department and officiated as the Institute of
Diplomacy and Foreign Relations, thus the acronym
IDFR, on 12 August 1991 by Prime Minister Dr
Mahathir Mohamad. Ambassador Albert S. Talalla, a IDFR before its full completion in 2005
freshly retired diplomat from Malaysia’s Mission in
Washington D.C. was appointed as the first Director- The Institute holds many poignant memories and
General. seen many milestones. It has been visited by many
statesmen, world leaders and distinguished politicians.
In 2001, the Institute was relocated to new premises A multitude of parliamentarians, congressmen and
on Jalan Wisma Putra, and officially placed under the senior civil servants too have walked up the stairs into
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As an anecdote, the premises the lobby of the building. The Treaty Room was witness
was given by the British as the official residence to the to many treaties – thus the name, that were negotiated
Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaya, Yang Teramat and signed there. It had also witnessed many debates
Mulia Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj from 1955 to and information-sharing between Wisma Putra officials.
1957. When the Ministry moved into the premise from
the Sultan Abdul Samad Building in 1966, it decided to Serving as one of the key agencies under the Ministry,
name it in Tunku’s honour, hence Wisma Putra. Later, as the Institute performs various critical functions,
the Ministry was expanded, the name was carried to the including as a training arm to the Ministry, research
Ministry’s new premises, which is Wisma Putra complex centre, event organiser and think tanker, mainly
in Putrajaya. The premises in Bukit Petaling was handed concerning diplomacy and foreign relations. Through
over to the Institute, and after some renovations, was its four centres, various programmes and activities
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2021 ANNUAL REPORT 2021 ANNUAL REPORT