President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has urged to embrace the limitless opportunities the future has to offer for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to excel in the digital age.

He made this remark while delivering his keynote address at the “Smart Maldives: Journey towards a digitally inclusive community” side-event held at fourth International Conference on SIDS, being held in Antigua and Barbuda from May 27 – 30.

The event was organized by the Maldives’ Ministry of Housing, Land and Urban Development, the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology, and the National Centre for Information Technology.

Highlighting that Maldives is in the process of transforming into a digital economy, President Muizzu urged the international community to extend cooperation, investments, and partnerships to support this transformation.

Further, he shed light on the pursuit of Maldives for targeted investments to advance innovation and technology and noted the need for technical assistance to the Maldives to create and implement strict consumer protection laws, rules, and regulations aligned with regional and international best practices.

President Muizzu touched upon the significance of supporting inclusive participation in regional and international standard-setting negotiations, as well as fair representation in shaping the digital economy.

Noting his administration’s commitment to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), President Muizzu stressed that the government of Maldives continuously invests in building digital citizens who are well equipped for the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and “Big Data.”

Emphasizing his administration’s commitment to introduce new digital services that will benefit all residents of the Maldives, the president said that his government intends to demonstrate the results of the island nation’s resilience and strong determination to the international community, that it is possible to overcome challenges that are surfacing constantly, and bridge the restrictions.