UNITED STATES SENATE
SUBJECT: Ambassadorial Nomination: Certificate of Demonstrated Competence — Foreign Service Act, Section 304(a)(4)
POST: Republic of Indonesia
CANDIDATE: Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir
Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, was most recently the Executive Secretary of the Department of State. She is a former Ambassador to Malaysia. She has served as Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. A recognized expert on East Asian affairs, Lakhdhir’s extensive senior foreign policy experience in Washington and overseas demonstrates that she is well-qualified to serve as Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia.
Lakhdhir served as U.S. Consul General at Consulate General Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. She has served as Director of the Office of Maritime Southeast Asia, which includes responsibility for U.S. relations with Indonesia, and was a political officer in U.S. Embassy Beijing. She also served as a Pearson Fellow in the House International Relations Committee’s Asia and Pacific Subcommittee, and the House Financial Services Committee’s International Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee. Early in her career, she was Deputy Coordinator of the Taiwan Coordination Staff in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and a Line Officer in the Department’s Executive Secretariat. Other overseas assignments were in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
Lakhdhir earned a B.A. from Harvard College and an M.S. from the National War College. She has won numerous Department of State performance awards. Her languages are Chinese, Bahasa Malaysia, and Bahasa Indonesia.