Foreign ministry building officially renamed "Fathulla Jameel Building"

The building where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located has officially been renamed ‘Fathulla Jameel Building’.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih inaugurated the recently renovated building at a ceremony held on Thursday morning.

Speaking there, the president said that the decision to rename the building was made to honour the late Fathulla Jameel’s invaluable service in shaping the country’s foreign policy.

He said it was a symbol of his relationship to the building, which was built under the former minister's supervision, and worked at for over 27 years. Further, the Minister’s desk used by the former minister will be permanently displayed in the building "as a reminder of his invaluable contribution to the foreign service".

Fathulla Jameel was appointed Foreign Minister in March 1978 while he was serving as Maldives’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. The longest serving foreign minister to date, Jameel resigned from office in 2005. He passed away in 2012, at the age of 69.

Maumoon Abdulla Gayoom, who was president during Jameel's tenure as foreign minister, said that he was "instrumental in putting the Maldives on the world map and built the country's image globally".

Also at Thursday’s ceremony, President Solih noted that the international community accepts the Maldives' foreign policy and that this is evident in the fact the Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid has been elected as the next President of the United Nations General Assembly.

While the foreign ministry building has been officially renamed, services resumed there this Sunday. For the renovation period, the ministry’s services were being provided in a temporary building near the Hulhumalé ferry terminal.

The China-aid renovation project started in 2019.