A Memorandum of Understanding on Agricultural Cooperation has been signed between the government of Maldives and Turkey.

The agreement was signed as part of a recent official visit by Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye on the invitation of the Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Abdulla Shahid.

As such, the Memorandum of Understanding between the government of the Republic of Maldives and the government of the Republic of Türkiye on Agricultural Cooperation was signed during a ceremony held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.

The MoU was signed by Dr. Hussain Rasheed Hassan, Minister of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture on behalf of the Maldivian government, with the Foreign Minister of Turkey signing on behalf of the Turkish government.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the agreement will pave way for training to be conducted for the Maldivian agriculture community and boost their skills. The agreement also presents an opportunity to expand the agricultural sector throughout the Maldives.

A total of five key agreements were signed on Sunday, as part of the Turkish minister’s visit.

One of this includes an agreement to strengthen cooperation on environmental issues, under which the waste management system in the Maldives will be further enhanced and efforts will be launched into increasing the use of renewable energy.

The agreement signed by the fisheries minister will see the Turkish government extending assistance towards the efforts of the Maldivian government to combat climate change, protect the environment and eradicate chemical and hazardous waste that is harmful to the environment.