President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has highlighted that importance of international support during Covid-19 recovery efforts, during a call with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

The President’s Office said that the two leaders spoke via telephone on Wednesday, adding that the discussions centered on the ongoing global pandemic, COVID-19, and on long-term plans for recovery.

Informing the Irish PM of Maldives’ Covid-19 situation, President Solih outlined the temporary restrictive measures the Maldives has taken in response to the pandemic, including imposing a lockdown in the Greater Male’ Region. He stressed that measures have proven effective at containing viral spread.

Further noting work to gradually ease restrictive measures as more people recover and daily new cases decrease, the president told PM Varadkar of the country’s priorities during this stage which includes “restarting economic activity, re-opening borders, reviving the tourism industry, and building a resilient Maldives without compromising the country’s continued success against Covid-19”.

He also emphasized that international support is crucial during the recovery stage and highlighted the challenges to vulnerable Small Island Developing States, and added that “debt-forgiveness would be an impactful measure to alleviate their burdens”.

President Solih and the Irish prime minister also discussed bilateral ties during the call.

As such, they discussed further strengthening the existing ties through international cooperation on a range of mutually important issues including climate change, counter-terrorism and trade.

They also expressed confidence that “strong bilateral ties and fruitful international cooperation will continue in the long-term”.

Maldives and the Republic of Ireland established formal diplomatic ties approximately twenty-one years ago, in 1991.