Mr. San Lwin Myanmar’s first ambassador to the Holy See presents his Credentials

Holy Father Francis received in audience Mr. San Lwin, ambassador of the Republic of the union of Myanmar, on the occasion of the presentation of his Credential Letters on Thursday.

The following is a brief biography of the new ambassador:

H.E. Mr. San Lwin

Ambassador of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar

H.E. Mr. San Lwin was born on 20 December 1955 in Yangon, and is married with two daughters. He holds a degree in Industrial Chemistry (1977).

He has held the following offices:

junior staff member at the International Organizations and Economic Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; deputy assistant director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and official in the Consular Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; official in the Department of Planning and Administration, at the International Organizations and Economic Department and in the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1984-1987); third embassy secretary in Peking (1987-1991); section head of the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1991-1993); consul in the People’s Republic of China (1993-1997); assistant director of the Political Department and in the Department of Training, Research and Foreign Language of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1997-2000); first secretary and embassy counsellor in Singapore (2000-2005); vice director and director of the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005-2008); minister counsellor and deputy permanent representative at the United Nations in New York (2008-2011); director of the Division of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2011); vice director general of the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2011-2013); director general of the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2013-2015); ambassador in Austria, where he resides (from July 2015 to date); ambassador in Lithuania (from 2017 to date).

He speaks English.

The decision to establish diplomatic relations was taken when Pope Francis met  the State Counsellor and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi on May 4, 2017 here in the Vatican.  

About one percent of Myanmar’s 51 million people are Catholics where the church has been active for five centuries.