Maldives, European Union to hold fifth Policy Dialogue

Maldives is to co-host the fifth Maldives – European Union (EU) Policy Dialogue, next week.

This year’s dialogue is to be held virtually, on Monday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Dialogue will focus on the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic “particularly on the efforts of the Government of Maldives to contain and achieve a resilient recovery from the pandemic and to build back better”.

The thematic areas of discussion at the dialogue will include cooperation in the fisheries sector, environment and climate change, development cooperation, trade and investment, finance, democracy, governance, human rights, security cooperation and Schengen Visa facilitation.

Maldives’ delegation is to be led by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulla Shahid, and will consist of Cabinet Ministers and senior government officials from all the relevant government agencies.

The EU delegation will be led by the Ambassador of the European Union to the Maldives, Denis Chaibi.

Maldives-European Union Policy Dialogue is held annually. The purpose of the dialogue is "to facilitate open and constructive engagement between the Maldives and the EU to further strengthen the existing ties of friendship and cooperation between the Maldives and the members of the European Union".

This year the Maldives and EU had also initiated an annual Senior Officials level meeting, which was held in Male' in February.