Singapore has been one of Maldives' most important development partners: Shahid

Singapore has been one of Maldives' most important development partners, says Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.

FM Shahid said this during a courtesy call paid on him by the Singaporean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan at Paradise Island Resort on Tuesday.

While the meeting took place on the sidelines of the ongoing 4th edition of the Indian Oceans Conference (IOC), Shahid stated that Singapore is an important regional partner and a close friend of Maldives.

Assuring FM Balakrishnan on the government’s commitment to further enhance the existing bilateral cooperation between Maldives and Singapore, Shahid shed light on issues relating to counter terrorism, technical cooperation as well as environment.

Further, he went on to express gratitude on behalf of the government for the hospitality the government and people of Singapore extended towards the Maldives delegation during President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s official trip in July 2019.

Noting that the visit was a success, Shahid highlighted the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was signed between the ministries of both countries and the signing of the Open Skies Agreement.

Maldives also signed the “Singapore Convention on Mediation” on 7 August 2019.

Shahid highlighted that the ongoing conference will prove to be an important platform for regional cooperation on issues of importance to all the countries participating.

Singapore, as the Vice Chair of the conference, has shown an excellent performance in bringing the issue of oceans to the front lines of the discussions.

Shahid was accompanied by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel, Foreign Secretary Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, Ambassador of Maldives to Sri Lanka Omar Abdul Razzak and Political Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hassan Hussain Shihab.