President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has said that the vision of the Maldives for development is one of engagement, partnership building, and focused delivery.

He said this while delivering a statement at the Invest Maldives Forum at the Fuzhou Strait International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Fuzhou, China.

He took part in the forum as part of the Maldivian first couple’s ongoing state visit to China.

Muizzu and First Lady Sajidha Mohamed departed to the People’s Republic of China on a state visit on Sunday night.

The state visit is being conducted upon an official invitation from the President of China, Xi Jinping.

The first couple is accompanied by a high-level delegation of government officials during the visit.

Taking the podium at the forum, Muizzu shed light on the importance of his visit to China, as it if his first state visit since assuming office in November 2023.

Shedding light on the long-standing and fruitful government-to-government and business-to-business cooperation between Maldives and China, Muizzu expressed joy to witness the strong presence of businesses from both countries, at the forum.

Further, he touched upon the long-standing relationship between the two countries, which dates back to the ancient Maritime Silk Road.

Noting that China remains one of the closest allies and developmental partners of Maldives, Muizzu stated that Maldives became a party to President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative in 2014, which delivered significant infrastructure projects in the Maldives.

Muizzu went on to shed light on his vision for the expansion of the central airport and commercial port and noted that the Maldivian government is interested to explore partnerships under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

In addition to this, the Maldivian president stated that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed between China and the Maldives would enhance bilateral trade and investments, specifically by increasing the export of fish products to China, marking it as a key priority explored within the FTA.

The Maldivian leader is undertaking a visit to China at a time relations between India and Maldives have soured once again, over posts on social media platform ‘X’ by deputy ministers close to the president.

While many have been calling on the government to relieve them of their duties, all the government has done so far is suspend the deputy ministers over the racist and Xenophobic comments they made.