After serving as an ambassador and handling other foreign affairs roles since the 1980s, Dato Paduka Haji Yusoff bin Haji Abd Hamid became ambassador of Brunei to the United States in November 2009.

 

Born on March 1, 1949, in Kuala Belait, Hamid attended college in the United Kingdom, receiving his Bachelor of Arts (with honors) in economics from City of Birmingham Polytechnic (1976).

 

After finishing his studies, he went to work as an administrative officer in the treasury department for four years. During this time, he earned a Certificate in Financial Management from the Royal Institute of Public Administration in London (1979).

 

For the first half of the 1980s, Hamid served as a private and confidential secretary to Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, minister of foreign affairs. He also continued his education, gaining a Certificate in Diplomacy from Oxford University and attending a seminar on the aims and methods of development cooperation at the German Foundation in Berlin, both in 1982.

 

From 1986-1988, Hamid was director of the Economic Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He juggled this duty while pursuing a master’s degree in law and diplomacy from Tufts University in the United States (1987).

 

Hamid then became director of the ASEAN Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving until 1992.

 

The following year, he was the high commissioner to Australia for four years.

 

He received his first ambassadorship in 1996, to Japan.

 

By 1997, he became deputy permanent secretary in the ministry, and then was promoted in 2000 to high commissioner to the UK and ambassador to Ireland.

 

From 2001-2004, he was chairman of the Economic Development Board. In April 2004, Hamid was appointed ambassador to Belgium. The following year, he was made head of the Brunei Mission to the European Union, ambassador to the Netherlands and to Hungary, and Brunei’s permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

 

Later in 2005, he was made deputy minister of communications, a position he held until becoming ambassador to the U.S.

 

When not handling foreign affairs for his country, Hamid enjoys golf, walking and jogging. He and his wife, Mahani binti Dato Abu Zar, have three sons and a daughter.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

CV (Brunei Resources.com)