Chinese Ambassador to the Maldives Wang Lixin has described the recent official State visit of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu to China on President Xi Jinping's invitation as being 'historically significant' for both countries.
Speaking to media on Wednesday, the Ambassador highlighted that twenty MOUs on a broad spectrum of initiatives was signed between the countries during the visit.
She said that this is the most number of agreements that have been confirmed in a single visit between China and any country. The same is true for Maldives.
The twenty MOUs signed between China and Maldives include a large number of projects based on different development areas, including but not limited to Blue Economy, Green Development, human resource development, development of social housing, tourism promotion, agricultural cooperation and higher education.
The ambassador also spoke about the USD 130 million grant that China is providing to the Maldives, announced earlier by President Dr Muizzu.
"The grant is a gift from China to the Maldives. It is intended to be used on projects. However, it is up to the Maldives' government to decide which projects the grant will be applied for," Wang Lixin explained.
The government has previously said that part of the grant may be used for the development of roads in Male' and Villimale'.
The ambassador confirmed that a large number of initiatives agreed upon in these twenty MOUs are already in motion.
Additionally, the year's first charter flight from China is expected to arrive in the Maldives on February 14. Based on demand, the airline will consider introducing direct commercial flights, thereby decreasing ticket prices. The Ambassador believes this move will encourage more Chinese tourists to visit the Maldives.
Specialized delegates from China expected to visit the Maldives' in the coming months for further deliberations on finalizing details of these flights.
Regarding the RasMale' (Fushidhiggaru Falhu) housing project, Ambassador Wang Lixin confirmed that a number of companies in China have already expressed interest in undertaking the project.
She said that due to time constraints during the trip, the finer details of the agreements had not yet been decided upon. A delegation is expected to arrive in Maldives within the month to deliberate on how best the project can be implemented.
Foreign Ministry of Maldives is taking the lead in organizing discussions with related authorities in both China and Maldives to ascertain the exact implementation plans which fall under the agreements made between the two countries, according to the Ambassador. She confirmed that efforts are being made to ensure expedited implementation of these projects.
Regarding China's decision to offer leniency in the repayment of the government loans, the Ambassador stated that specific details of how the repayment will be restructured are yet to be decided.
"For this very professional matter, a technical team will be conferring with their counterparts in Maldives to come up with a plan. We understand the position the Maldives government is in, and will aim to provide the best solution," she said.
The Ambassador emphasized the mutual political trust between the two countries. She said that the leaders of both countries had agreed to elevate the bilateral relations through a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership.
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