Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said the Malaysian Mission to the United Nations (UN) is ready to shoulder its new responsibilities following Malaysia's election to the UN Security Council.

He noted that over the past five months, the office had welcomed another deputy permanent representative, solely in-charge of Security Council matters, in addition to the other who handled the UN General Assembly.

Malaysia's permanent representative to the UN Datuk Hussein Haniff, who has been leading the mission in New York since 2011, and his deputy Raja Reza Raja Zaib Shah are now joined by Siti Hajjar Adnin who will handle the Security Council team.

Furthermore, seven additional officers from the Foreign Ministry, as well as one from the Royal Malaysia Police had arrived to beef up the mission, he told the media here Thursday.

“Now we are ready to work," he added.

According to Anifah, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon " was pleased with Malaysia’s victory" as conveyed in their telephone conversation after the outcome of the voting process was announced Thursday.

“The UN secretary-general said he is looking forward to working closely with us, and believes that Malaysia can contribute positively and play an important role as a non permanent member of the Security Council," he added.

Anifah said Ban had also asked him to congratulate Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Malaysia's successful bid for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council.

Malaysia won the non-permanent seat when it received 187 of the total 192 votes cast during voting at the United Nations to fill five vacancies for non-permanent membership. There was one abstention.

Angola, Venezuela, New Zealand and Spain also won seats on the council.