Maldives and China signed the Certificate of Assistance for the Maldives Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Certificate of Assistance was signed during a ceremony held the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel signed the Certificate on behalf of the Maldives and the Ambassador of China to the Maldives, Wang Lixin signed on behalf of the People’s Republic of China.

The assistance was initially announced in January 2022, during China's State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi's official visit to Maldives to to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between Maldives and China.

Foreign Ministry states that the assistance, which totals the sum of USD 310,000, will be used to complete certain aspects of the Foreign Ministry Building renovation programme. Ministry highlighted that the money will also be used for training and capacity building purposes.

With the assistance of the Chinese Government, the Foreign Ministry Building was completed in 2006. Under the initiative to renovate the Foreign Ministry Building which commenced in 2019, China has continued to extend its support.

The Foreign Ministry Building was formally inaugurated by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in 2021.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, extend its sincere appreciation and gratitude to the Government of China, for their continued support and cooperation in further strengthening the Maldives-China bilateral relations.