The President, Major General (Ret’d) Jioji Konousi Konrote received the new British High Commissioner to Fiji, Melanie Hopkins at the State House yesterday.

Ms Hopkins presented her credentials to President Konrote following a 25-member guard of honour by officers of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.

High Commissioner Hopkins joined the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 2003 after working in the private sector.

In 2003, Ms Hopkins became the desk officer for Turkey at the FCO after her secondment to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She became the head of political section and press and public affairs in Havana, Cuba from 2004 to 2007, and from 2008 to 2011 was appointed the second secretary at the UK Mission to the United Nations in Geneva.

She also worked for the Asia Pacific Department at the FCO as the head of the Australasia and Pacific from 2012 to 2014.

Before her appointment as the British High Commissioner to Fiji, Ms Hopkins was the deputy head of the Security Policy Department at the FCO.

High Commissioner Hopkins is also the non-resident High Commissioner to the Kingdom of Tonga, the Republic of Kiribati and Tuvalu as well as the non-resident Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia.

The High Commissioner was accompanied by her partner, Alessandro Truppia to the State House for her presentation of credentials ceremony..