The Ambassador of Turkey Presents his Credentials to the President and meets the acting Foreign Minister

The Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey, H.E. Şakir Özkan Torunlar, presented his Letter of Credence to President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, this morning, at the President’s Office.

During the call, the President welcomed the Ambassador to the Maldives and extended greetings and good wishes to the President of Turkey, H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The President noted that the Maldives and Turkey have a long history of close relations and that the Maldives attaches high importance to its relations with Turkey. He also expressed sincere gratitude for the continued and strengthened cooperation between the two countries for the common interest of their peoples. The President further expressed appreciation for the leadership role being played by Turkey, especially by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on issues confronting the Islamic Ummah today, and conveyed assurances of the full support of the Maldives to Turkey in its efforts to combat international terrorism and violent extremism. He noted that the Maldives welcomes more Turkish companies to explore investment opportunities in the Maldives, particularly in the tourism sector. The discussions that followed included exploring different areas of cooperation between the two countries.

The Ambassador noted that it is both an honour and a privilege to represent the Republic of Turkey as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Maldives.

The President was accompanied at the call by the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Defence and National Security, H.E. Adam Shareef Umar, the Minister of State for Foreign Relations at the President’s Office, H.E. Mohamed Naseer and the Secretary, Bilateral at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Ahmed Khaleel.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey also called on the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Adam Shareef Umar.

At the meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this morning, Acting Foreign Minister Adam Shareef congratulated Ambassador Torunlar on his appointment and expressed hope that the Ambassador would further reinforce the strong bilateral ties and cooperation between Maldives and Turkey. Minister Umar and Ambassador Torunlar exchanged views on further enhancing cooperation between both countries and reflected on ways for strengthening the existing ties especially in the areas of trade, investment, tourism and other areas of mutual interest.

Ambassador Torunlar assured the Minister Umar of his willingness and commitment to work with the Government of Maldives to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

Acting Foreign Minister Adam Shareef was accompanied by Secretary Bilateral, His Excellency Ahmed Khaleel and Joint Secretary, Ms. Fathimath Najwa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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Minister of Tourism and Sports of Thailand calls on the President

The Minister of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, H.E. Kobkarn Suriyasat Wattanavrangkul, paid a courtesy call on President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, this morning, at the President’s Office.

During the call, the President welcomed the Minister to the Maldives and conveyed greetings and good wishes to His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Prime Minister of Thailand, H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-cha (Ret.). The President highlighted on the excellent bilateral cooperation that exists between the Maldives and Thailand and noted that there is high potential for further cooperation between the two countries. He expressed his readiness to explore possibilities of increasing tourism and sports cooperation between the Maldives and Thailand, in the coming years. The President stated that Thailand remains a very favoured country for Maldivian businesspersons, and is increasingly important for outbound Maldivian tourists. He also stated that there has been an increase in the number of Maldivians travelling to Thailand for medical purposes and further stated that Thailand is currently the biggest exporter for the Maldives. The President expressed his desire to see more Thai investments in the Maldives, particularly in the tourism sector.

The Minister noted that it is an honour to visit the Maldives, and expressed hope that her engagements during the visit would further enhance the relationship between Thailand and the Maldives. She also concurred with the President on strengthening cooperation in the fields of tourism as well as youth and sports.

The President was accompanied at the call by the Minister of Tourism, H.E. Moosa Zameer, the Minister of Youth and Sports, H.E. Irthisham Adam and the Minister of State for Foreign Relations at the President’s Office, H.E. Mohamed Naseer.

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Foreign Minister concludes a successful visit to New York

Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Dr. Mohamed Asim has returned to Maldives after concluding a successful visit to New York, to attend the High-level segment of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

This year’s Maldives delegation to the UNGA was led by Minister Asim. During the visit, Minister Asim delivered a statement at the General Debate on behalf of the Government of Maldives on 23 September 2017. In his statement, Minister Asim highlighted many aspects of social and economic progress enjoyed by the Maldives, under the stewardship of President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom. He also called on the international community to end the grave human rights violations and injustices taking place in Myanmar, Palestine and Syria. Speaking further, Minister also expressed the readiness of the Maldives to take a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council for the term 2019-2020.

In addition, Minister Asim delivered a statement at the Annual OIC Foreign Minister’s meeting and OIC contact group meeting on Rohingya Muslims, held on the margins of the UNGA calling on the Government of Myanmar to respect its human rights obligations under international law. Minister Asim also participated and delivered statements in the Annual Ministerial Meeting of G77 and informal meeting of SAARC Council of Ministers held on the margins of the UNGA as well as OIC Contact Group Meeting on Rohingya Muslims.

During the visit, Minister Asim Chaired a side-event co-hosted by the Maldives and Saudi Arabia on Countering Violent Extremism: Promoting Community Level Prevention. He also participated in a meeting organized by Maldives as AOSIS Chair, EU and UNDP on SIDS responding to Climate impacts and planning for sustainable future.

In addition, Minister Asim also participated in the High-level plenary meeting convened by the President of the General Assembly to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and called on the International Community to ban Nuclear weapons.

Minister Asim also met with a number of bilateral partners of Maldives during his stay in New York and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation as well as advocated for our UN Security Council candidature. He also met with the UN Secretary General Mr. António Guterres who applauded the leadership of the Maldives on climate action, oceans issues and on the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The Secretary General also stated that the Maldives is on the first line of impact and first line of advocacy on Climate Change.

 

On the margins of the of the UNGA, Maldives’ delegation hosted side-events on future of Oceans and violence against Children as well as engaged in areas of interest such as Sustainable Development and Climate Change.

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Minister of Environment and Energy met with the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations

Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Thoriq Ibrahim met with the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Ms. Amina Mohammed this afternoon.

At a meeting held at the United Nations headquarters, Minister Thoriq briefed the Deputy Secretary General on the activities carried out by the Maldives as the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and discussed ways of enhancing cooperation between the Maldives and the United Nations on key issues such as sustainable development and climate change. Deputy Secretary General recognized the leadership role by the Maldives in shaping the Agenda 2030. She said that the role of Maldives has been exemplary and have showed what is possible.

The Meeting was held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

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Foreign Minister meets the United Nations Secretary General

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mohamed Asim met with the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. António Guterres this afternoon. He was joined by the Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Thoriq Ibrahim.

At the meeting held at the United Nations headquarters, Minister Asim congratulated the Secretary General on his appointment and commended the Secretary General’s leadership on issues such as Climate Change, sustainable development and counter-terrorism.

Mr. Guterres applauded the leadership of the Maldives on climate action, oceans issues and on the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The Secretary General stated that the Maldives is on the first line of impact and first line of advocacy on Climate Change.

The Meeting was held on the sidelines of the Seventy Second session of the United Nations General Assembly.

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