The government of Maldives and the Arab Republic of Egypt have held the second round of Bilateral Political Consultations.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that the second round of the Bilateral Political Consultations between the two countries was held on July 16, in Malé City.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel led the successful political consultations on behalf of the Maldivian government.

Assistant Minister for Asian Affairs of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Egypt Ambassador Ayman Kamel co-chaired the political consultations on behalf of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Held in a “warm” and “friendly” atmosphere, the political consultations re-affirmed the strong mutual interests shared by both governments in strengthening the existing bilateral relations.

The discussions touched upon the historical ties of friendship between the two countries, which are based on Islamic solidarity, shared cultural values and mutual respect.

Further, it revolved around deepening the scope of engagement in the fields of economic cooperation and trade, technical exchange, tourism, culture and heritage, health and education, youth and sports, climate change and environmental vulnerabilities, security and counterterrorism, as well as international issues of mutual interest.

Both countries stressed on the importance of the upcoming 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Maldives and Egypt and expressed enthusiasm to celebrate the special occasion throughout the commemorative year, 2024.

As such, both governments recognized that the recent exchange of high-level visits of dignitaries of both countries have strengthened bilateral relations.

The importance of welcoming key high-level visits during this commemorative year, including a visit by Professor Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif to the Maldives was also discussed.

Maldives further discussed the prospects for opening resident missions in the two respective capitals to boost diplomatic ties, in the interest of the long-standing, close bilateral relations and efforts to increase people-to-people contact between Maldives and Egypt.

Further, both sides also shed light on the significance of establishing institutional frameworks for the enactment of business councils, parliamentary friendship groups, and friendship societies between the Maldives and Egypt and acknowledged that such institutional frameworks are crucial in the efforts to strengthen bilateral business ties, enhancing political collaboration, promoting cultural understanding, fostering diplomatic relations, facilitating networking and mutual recognition between the two countries.

As such, the island nation shed light on the positive developments observed following the establishment of the Maldives-Egypt parliamentary friendship group in the People’s Majlis, which has seen the joining of 10 parliamentarians and a chairperson will be appointed. The group will be inaugurated in August once the parliament reconvenes.

Both governments welcomed the development as a “significant” step in fostering collaboration and dialogue among lawmakers of the Maldives and Egypt.

Maldives and Egypt also agreed that its establishment mirrors the commitment to work together on common interests, promoting cooperation across party lines as well as enhancing bilateral relationships.

Touching upon economic and technical cooperation the two countries noted the gains in increasing trade and investment, as well as business-to-business interactions, with Maldives having requested the assistance of Egypt in the sector of education and training specifically tailored to the shipbuilding industry.

As two internationally acclaimed tourist destinations, the two countries further agreed to exchange best practices that enrich the visitor experience and ensure the development of human resources to meet the demands of the flourishing tourism sector.

Shedding light on air connectivity, the government of Maldives noted that Egypt is a gateway to Africa and both sides agreed to explore the prospects of establishing direct air connections, taking into light the economic benefits that would increase from such an investment.

Discussions also touched upon enhancing cooperation in consular affairs, including the importance of promoting consular awareness among the citizens of both countries and the designation of consular-related focal points in both countries to coordinate urgent consular matters.

The government of Maldives also thanked Egypt for including it in the category of countries eligible for visa on arrival to Egypt, which is expected to increase people-to-people contact and enhance commercial ties.

Speaking about cooperation in the fields of health and education, the Maldivian government thanked Egypt for its long-standing, invaluable contribution to the human resources development of the Maldives particularly noting the annual scholarships received from the prestigious Al-Azhar University.

Maldives also offered appreciation to the contributions of the Egyptian government to the health sector of the Maldives and welcomed the dedicated services rendered by doctors native to Egypt.

Shedding light on the outstanding cooperation in the international arena, Maldives and Egypt re-affirmed mutual interest to continue to work closely at the multilateral fora, especially at the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), on global issues including climate change and environmental protection, achieving Sustainable Development Goals, maritime security, counter-radicalization and counterterrorism and in addressing challenges affecting the Islamic Ummah.

The significance of ensuring freedom of movement in the Indian Ocean to foster trade, development and connectivity through a rules-based international order, based on trust, mutual respect and inclusivity was also discussed.

Touching upon cooperation in the battle against terrorism, the two countries discussed the prospect of holding a conference on the topic of tolerance in Islam and undertaking joint efforts in the fight against terrorism and radicalization.

Maldives acknowledged the assistance provided by Egypt in training Maldivian Imams and in sending Imams to lead the Taraweeh prayers during the fasting month of Ramadan.

Both countries took note of the importance of working together to strengthen and promote Islamic solidarity both bilaterally and at the international arena.

Further, Maldives and Egypt also expressed mutual commitment to build on the high-level bilateral meetings and to hold the third round of Bilateral Political Consultations in Cairo in 2024.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of diplomatic training was signed on the sidelines of the second round of bilateral political consultation between the two countries.

The first round of Bilateral Political Consultations was held between the government of Maldives and the Arab Republic of Egypt on 19 December 2019, in commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of establishing diplomatic relations between both countries.