Honorific-Prefix: | Yang Mulia Dato' |
Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari | |
Honorific-Suffix: | DSDK AMK |
Office: | 5th Secretary General of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation |
Term Start: | 1 January 2018 |
Term End: | 1 January 2021 |
Predecessor: | Seyed Ali Mohammad Mousavi |
Successor: | Isiaka Abdulqadir Imam |
Office1: | 17th Ambassador of Malaysia to Egypt |
1Blankname1: | Prime Minister |
1Namedata1: | Najib Razak |
Term Start1: | September 2013 |
Term End1: | March 2017 |
Predecessor1: | Mohd Fakhrudin Abdul Mukti |
Successor1: | Mohd Haniff Abd Rahman |
Office2: | 11th High Commissioner of Malaysia to Brunei |
1Blankname2: | Prime Minister |
Term Start2: | 8 August 2007 |
Term End2: | 23 September 2010 |
Predecessor2: | Ali Abdullah |
Successor2: | Abdullah Sani Omar |
Office3: | 1st Ambassador of Malaysia to Qatar |
1Blankname3: | Prime Minister |
1Namedata3: | Abdullah Ahmad Badawi |
Term Start3: | August 2004 |
Term End3: | July 2007 |
Predecessor3: | Position established |
Successor3: | Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob |
Birth Name: | Ku Jaafar bin Ku Shaari |
Birth Date: | 1 March 1957 |
Birth Place: | Kedah, Malaysia |
Alma Mater: | University of Malaya (BA) |
Profession: | Diplomat |
Ku Jaafar bin Ku Shaari (Malay: كو جعفر كو شعري|label=[[Jawi alphabet|Jawi]]|script=arab|italic=unset, in Malay pronounced as /ku jaafar/; born 1 March 1957) is a Malaysian diplomat who last served as the 5th Secretary-General of the D-8 between 2018 and 2021.[1] Apart from that, Ku Jaafar has served as the Ambassador of Malaysia to Egypt and Qatar, and the High Commissioner of Malaysia to Brunei.[2]
Ku Jaafar was born on 1 March 1957 in Kedah, Malaysia. He studied International Relations and attained a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Malaya and later completed a Diploma in Public Administration at the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN), Malaysia's pioneer and elite agency in training civil servants and diplomatic administrative officers.
Ku Jaafar first started his diplomatic career in 1981. Throughout his extensive and distinguished career as a diplomat, Ku Jaafar has held various ambassadorial positions as a diplomatic administrative officer such as Second Secretary in the High Commission of Malaysia in Ottawa, Canada, Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations in New York, United States, Chargé d'Affaires in Croatia and Jordan, and Undersecretary for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).[3]
His peak career as a diplomat was during his appointment as the 5th Secretary General of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, becoming the first Malaysian to hold the post. Prior to that, Ku Jaafar was the highest diplomatic envoy of Malaysia to Egypt, Brunei, and Qatar. Ku Jaafar has also served as the Director General for the Malaysian Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR).[4] Currently, he sits as the chairman for Al-Ebreiz Global Capital Berhad, a public company listed in Bursa Malaysia that deals with shariah-compliant financing.[5]