Sixth year in aviation council

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has retained its seat as Council State under Part III of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Council for the 2022-2025 term.

This was achieved during the 41st session of the ICAO’s triennial assembly held in Montreal, Canada, on Tuesday.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (pic), who headed the Malaysian delegation to the assembly, said this marked the country’s sixth consecutive term in the ICAO council since it first got elected in 2007.

“I have led the Malaysian delegation to carry out various lobbying efforts so that Malaysia will be retained as ICAO council member under Part III. In total, Malaysia had held 44 bilateral meetings with delegation heads from various countries, including regional groupings,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Malaysia obtained 136 votes while other ICAO member states which won the election under Part III were Bolivia (138), Chile (146), El Salvador (132), Equatorial Guinea (145), Ethiopia (154), Ghana (150), Jamaica (149), Mauritania (143), Qatar (160), South Korea (151), Romania (138), United Arab Emirates (161) and Zimbabwe (148).

Dr Wee, reported Bernama, said Malaysia continued to be committed to the ICAO in safekeeping and compliance to safety in civil aviation, innovation and strengthening global aviation through strategic infrastructure development besides capability building for aviation institutions to fill the need of a new generation of aviation professionals.

A specialised agency of the United Nations, the ICAO was set up in 1944 to manage the administration and governance of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention.