Latvia's President Accredits Moroccan, Croatian, Indian Ambassadors [21 Apr 2009]

The new ambassadors to Latvia from Morocco, Croatia and India visited Latvia's President Valdis Zatlers on Tuesday, April 21, for their accreditation visits.

Zohour Alaoui, the Moroccan ambassadress, was the first to arrive at the Rīga Castle to present her letters of accreditation. Ambassadress Alaoui resides in Sweden. President Zatlers express his happiness about friendly relations between Latvia and Morocco, confirming that our country is interested in the further development of economic and cultural relations. He also thanked the Moroccan government for the stipend that it has given to a Latvian who is working in Morocco to translate the Koran into Latvian. In the area of economic co-operation, the President emphasised successful co-operation between the port at Rīga and the one in Casablanca. President Zatlers and the ambassadress also discussed co-operation under the framework of the European Union, particularly focusing on Mediterranean and Eastern partnership projects.

Zohour Alaoui was born in Tunis in 1965. She holds a bachelor's degree in law and a master's degree in political science from the Mohammad V University in Rabat. In 1992, she earned another master's degree in liberal studies from Georgetown in Washington, DC. Ambassadress Alaoui joined her country's diplomatic service in 1987. She has worked for the kingdom's embassy in Washington and held senior positions at the Moroccan Culture Ministry and Foreign Ministry, as well as at the United Nations. She has been Morocco's ambassadress extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Sweden since January 2006.

Vladimir Matek, Croatia's new ambassador to Latvia, was next to visit President Zatlers for his accreditation visit. He also is resident in Stockholm. During their meeting, the President and the ambassador discussed ways in which the bilateral relationship between the two countries can be made more active. They also discussed the situation in Croatia and the Western Balkans. While discussing the security situation in the region, the President particularly welcomed the fact that Croatia has joined NATO. He spoke positively of its movement toward the European Union, as well.

Vladimir Matek was born in 1948 in Zagreb. He earned a doctorate in medicine from Zagreb University, after which he worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. Ambassador Matek joined the diplomatic service of Croatia in 1992. He has served as ambassador or permanent representative to the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the United States, and other organisations in Vienna. He has been Croatia's ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Sweden since March 2009.

Finally, President Zatlers received the new ambassador to Latvia and Sweden from the Republic of India, Balkrishna Shetty. During their meeting, President Zatlers praised bilateral dialogue and co-operation between Latvia and India. He called on India to support a high-level exchange of visits between the two countries and said that a visit to Latvia by Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil to Latvia would be a key step toward intensifying the partnership between the two countries. President Zatlers also said that Latvia wishes to strengthen economic co-operation with India, particularly in such areas as biotechnology, pharmaceutics, information technologies, industry, transport, logistics and tourism. The President said that co-operation between ports and in the area of the knowledge-based economy offer great potential. He and the ambassador also discussed the situation in Afghanistan, talking about things that can be done to ensure that country's long term stability.

Balkrishna Shetty earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics with honours in 1970 from the Presidency College in Calcutta, and two years later he received his master's degree in the same field from the Institute of Technology of Kanpur. Ambassador Shetty joined the Indian diplomatic service in 1976 and has served in Moscow (1988-1991), Singapore (1991-1995) and France (1997-2001). He was ambassador to Senegal, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania and Gambia from 2001 until 2005, and ambassador to Bahrain from 2005 until January 2009.

President's Chancery