President Luis Abinader received on Thursday the credentials of eight new ambassadors accredited to the country, representing Guatemala, Peru, Indonesia, Serbia, Portugal, the Czech Republic and the Kingdoms of Belgium and Saudi Arabia.
The President, accompanied by Vice President Raquel Peña and the Vice Minister of Bilateral Foreign Policy, José Julio Gómez, received the credentials of Javier Antonio Zepeda, from Guatemala; María Cecilia Rozas Ponce de León, from Peru; Nana Yuliana, from Indonesia and Petr Kaván, from the Czech Republic.
Also present were Jean-Jacques Bastien, from the Kingdom of Belgium; Joao José Gomes Caetano Da Silva, from the Portuguese Republic; Danilo Pantovic, from the Republic of Serbia and Fauisal Falah Alharbi, from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The ceremony took place in the Ambassadors Hall of the National Palace.
The first to present his credentials was Javier Antonio Zepeda, from Guatemala, who has worked as a consultant in Business Strategy, Politics and Public Affairs with coverage in the Latin American region, as well as executive director of the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala.
The second was María Cecilia Rozas Ponce de León, new ambassador of Peru, who served as director of Drug Control of the General Directorate for Multilateral and Global Affairs. She was ambassador to Paraguay and has been part of the Diplomatic Corps in other countries of the Americas.
The new ambassador of Indonesia, Nana Yuliana, served as Consul General of that nation in Houston, United States. She has also held positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indonesian Embassy in Manila, Philippines.
Petr Kaván of the Czech Republic, the fourth to present his credentials, held the position of Deputy Director of the Americas Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
He was followed by Jean-Jacques Bastien representing the Kingdom of Belgium, who in 2020 assumed the position of deputy head of the cabinet of the Minister of Development Cooperation.
He was followed by Joao José Gomes Caetano Da Silva from Portugal, who entered the diplomatic service in 1980 and has been ambassador to Mexico, Angola, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, among other countries and has been recognized by the governments of Portugal, Germany, the Philippines and Mexico.
Danilo Pantovic, who served as director for the North and South Americas at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia in the position of ambassador, was presented by the Republic of Serbia.
The last to present his credentials to President Luis Abinader was Fauisal Falah Alharbi, from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He has studies in law and diplomacy and has worked since 2002 for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of his country, reaching in 2019 the position of ambassador in Moscow, Russia.
