Several ministers of the Maldivian cabinet on Monday welcomed Prince Abdulaziz Bin Naif, the interior minister of Saudi Arabia, who oversaw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to bolster fishing and housing projects in the Maldives through Saudi aid.

The President’s Office said in a statement they released on the MOU signing, that the government has reached an agreement between the Saudi Fund for Development, ‘in the financing of affordable housing scheme project and development of fisheries sector project’— in the singular. The government is yet to announce the specifics for either project.

Finance Minister Ahmed Munavvar signed the official MoU document with Ahmed Bin Aqeel Al Khatheeb, chairman of the fund’s board of directors. Speaking at the function, Prince Naif is reported to have assured Maldivian officials of Saudi’s support for development of the local economy.

The Saudi gazette said Prince Naif, who was given a red-carpet welcome and escorted by two ministers of the Maldivian cabinet, had called on incumbent President Abdulla Yameen to discuss ‘ways of enhancing cooperation in all fields’.

The Saudi government also said that it had discuss Maldives’, ‘recent developments in the international arena’. Prince Naif was received by Home Minister Azleen Ahmed and Defence Minister Adam Shareef and his highness’ visit marks the first state visit to the Maldives by a royal-rank Saudi official since King Salman cancelled his visit last year.

Last year, audio clips of Vilimalé MP Ahmed Nihan, allegedly, discussing an agreement to sell off multiple islands to the Saudi royal family. These coincided with President Yameen announcing a large-scale development projects in Faafu atoll, that caused protests to keep the atoll from being sold and for reviewing recent laws that allows sale of Maldivian land to big investors.

While MP Nihan has been indifferent to the leak, and thus far has not addressed it, both he and the Maldivian government, have all agreed with the Saudi government in refuting these reports.