President appoints Ahmed Sareer as Foreign Secretary

President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has today appointed Ahmed Sareer as Foreign Secretary. Ahmed Sareer is to serve at State Minister Level.

Ahmed Sareer was previously serving as the Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations since 10th December, 2012. Additionally, he was serving as the Ambassador from Maldives to the United States of America.

Posts previously held by Ahmed Sareer include serving as the Ambassador from Maldives to Bangladesh, Third Secretary appointed to Maldivian High Commission in Sri Lanka and as Second Secretary appointed to the Permanent Mission in the United Nations. Ahmed Sareer has also served at Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Assistant Undersecretary, Assistant Director Foreign Relations, Deputy Director, Director, Assistant Director General and Director General.

Ahmed Sareer has completed his Master’s Degree from Australia’s Monash University in Foreign Affairs and Trade.

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Foreign Minister speaks at the 44th Session of the OIC CFM in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Mohamed Asim said that “there can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development,” during the special session presenting the Maldives Statement on this year’s theme, “Youth, Peace and Development in a World of Solidarity,” at the 44th Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) Meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Speaking on the theme of the Meeting, Dr Asim informed the delegates from OIC Member States of the Maldives Government Manifesto and plans, on engaging youth in productive work, facilitating higher education opportunities, increasing youth leadership, and involvement in decision making. The Minister noted that the Government is pursuing plans that enable and empower youth, for young people are the hope and future of a nation.

Expressing concerns on the escalating conflicts and inability of the world to alleviate the concerns of Muslims around the world, the Minister noted that it is natural to have differences, however, conflict resolution approaches should always be to promote dialogue and peace, and to cultivate a culture of respect, of meaningful solutions for a shared prosperity. Along these lines, the Minister commended OIC for its efforts to change the image of Islam, and the spread of terrorist ideologies. Further, he also noted that the Maldives will stand by efforts to combat terrorism, violent extremism and support efforts targeted at Muslims, particularly the youth.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Mohamed Asim is accompanied at the OIC CFM by Additional Secretary Dr Marium Jabyn and Desk Officer Ms Aishath Fareena.

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The Non-resident Ambassador of Tunisia Presents his Credentials to the President

The Non-resident Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia, His Excellency Nejmeddine Lakhal, presented his Letter of Credence to President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, this morning, at the President’s Office.

The President congratulated the Ambassador, at the ceremony, on the commencement of his term and welcomed the Ambassador to the Maldives.

During the call, the President conveyed greetings and personal best wishes to the President of Tunisia, H.E. Beji Caid Essebsi. He noted that the Maldives and Tunisia have enjoyed over three decades of bilateral relations and expressed confidence for closer collaboration to further strengthen the existing relations between the two countries, during the Ambassador’s tenue.

Speaking of the Maldives’ candidature to the United Nations Security Council, as a non-permanent member for the term 2009-2020, the President expressed hope that the Maldives can count on the support of Tunisia for its inaugural candidacy, as an important and valued member of the African Group. The President reflected on the Maldives’ contribution to the causes of global peace and security, counter-terrorism and climate change. He also noted that over the last five decades at the UN, the Maldives has wielded substantial impact in these areas regardless of its relative size and limited resources, and emphasised that membership at the Security Council should therefore be representative of the intent, commitment and willingness to serve.

The Ambassador thanked the President for his warm welcome and conveyed greetings and good wishes of the President and the people of Tunisia to the Government and the people of the Maldives. He expressed his honour to represent Tunisia as the Ambassador to the Maldives, and assured his commitment to work closely with the Maldives to steer the existing relations of friendship and cooperation towards new dimensions, for the benefit of the two brotherly countries and for their peoples.

The President was accompanied at the call by the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Education, H.E. Dr. Aishath Shiham, the Minister of State for Foreign Relations at the President’s Office, H.E. Mohamed Naseer, and the Foreign Secretary H.E. Dr. Ali Naseer Mohamed.

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President appoints Permanent Representative to the United Nation, Ambassador to USA and Non- Resident Ambassador to Canada

President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has appointed Dr. Ali Naseer Mohamed as the Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations, as the Ambassador of the Maldives to the United States of America and as the Non- Resident Ambassador of the Maldives to Canada.

President Yameen presented the letter of credence to Dr. Ali Naseer Mohamed during a ceremony held this morning at the President’s Office.

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Minister introduces the Handbook of FOSIM’s Programmes and Activities and the magazine FOSIM Quarterly

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Mohamed Asim introduced the two publications, at a special event held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this morning. The two publications were prepared by the Foreign Service Institute of Maldives (FOSIM).

Speaking at the event, the Ministry reflected on the important role played by FOSIM in building the capacity of the foreign service to deliver the foreign policy objectives of the Government. He also congratulated the Team at FOSIM for the diligent work in preparing the two publications.

The Handbook of FOSIM’s Programmes and Activities introduces the programmes and activities being conducted by the Institute, and the programmes to be conducted in the near future.

The FOSIM Quarterly – to be published four times every year – aims to generate meaningful and informed conversation and dialogue about the processes, the contexts, and thought processes involved in foreign policy making. The perspectives are offered by foreign service officers.

The resident Ambassadors of China, India, Sri Lanka, Japan and Bangladesh, and representatives of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, JICA, and the UNICEF Representative, attended the event held at the Ministry.

FOSIM was established on 16 January 2014, by President Yameen Abdul Gayoom, under the administrative structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the aim of promoting professionalism in the foreign service.

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