Takeuchi Midori, the new Ambassador of Japan to the Maldives has expressed her commitment to further address the development needs of the Maldives, and her desire to strengthen cooperation.

During a ceremony held at the President’s Office on Thursday, the new Japanese Ambassador presented her Letters of Credence to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, which was followed by extensive discussions.

During the talks the ambassador revealed that she desired to boost cooperation in multiple sectors of the Maldives, including fisheries, agriculture, environment, disaster prevention, countering climate change as well as enhancing governance.

Discussions also revolved around avenues for increasing cooperation between Maldives and Japan.

Highlighting that 2022 marks the 55th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries, the ambassador expressed hope to further strengthen bilateral ties and work together on regional and global issues. The president expressed hope that the existing relations will be taken to newer heights during her ambassadorial tenure.

President Solih also shed light on the pivotal role Ambassador Midori’s predecessor, Keiko Yanai played in improving bilateral relations enjoyed between Maldives and Japan.

Going on to express his sincere appreciation for the significant contributions made by the government of Japan across multiple sectors, the Maldivian president noted with joy, the assistance Japan provided to Maldives during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He stated that the Covid-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan was by far the largest concessional loan received from Japan to battle the pandemic.

The meeting also saw the president extending gratitude to the government of Japan for its ongoing development projects in the Maldives, going on to mention the Sea Wall Renovation project and the Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting Project.

The government of Japan also received the president’s gratitude for the assistance received for the development of Maldives health sector, education, sports, agriculture and community development.

Another significant contribution made by Japan was the scholarship opportunities received under the Japanese Development Scholarship Programme to strengthen human resource capacity in the Maldives.

Diplomatic Relations were established between the two countries in 1967.