Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid returned to Maldives on Friday, upon the conclusion of his three-day official visit to Saudi Arabia from February 12-14.
In a press release, the ministry stated that Shahid held fruitful discussions with senior officials of the Saudi Arabian government during his visit.
Minister Shahid met with Dr Ibrahim Bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, his counterpart in Saudi Arabia, with whom he discussed further strengthening of bilateral ties between the two countries. The two ministers also explored avenues to ease the procedure on obtaining Saudi visa for Maldivians and further discussed the timely completion of the King Salman Mosque being built in capital Male’ City. Minister Al-Assaf assured Saudi Arabia’s continued commitment to strengthening the historic and brotherly relations between the two countries and assured that Saudi Arabia will always remain as a close development partner to Maldives.
Minister Shahid also discussed increasing Saudi investments in Maldives and holding a networking forum for businesses in Riyadh, with Dr Majid Bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, Minister of Commerce and Investment of Saudi Arabia. Both ministers spoke of expanding cooperation in the commercial field between the two countries and ways to optimise the processing of Saudi funded scholarships offered for Maldivians.
Vice Minister of Finance Dr Hamad Bin Sulaiman Al-Bazai assured that Saudi Arabia was committed to assist the Maldives in achieving the developmental goals set by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration.
Minister Shahid also sat down with Ahmed bin Aqeel Al Khatib, Adviser at the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD). The minister shared ongoing projects as well as development projects planned by the new administration, and discussed areas to target the assistance from SFD. Both Minister Shahid and Chairman Al Khatib discussed on initiating projects in the areas of fisheries and housing, as well as the progress of the ongoing development and expansion of Velana International Airport. Chairman Al Khatib assured the continued support of SFD to the economic agenda of Maldives. The meeting also revealed that a team from SFD will visit the island nation next week for further discussions.
Before his departure, Minister Shahid met with Dr Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten, Minister of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia. The ministers discussed issues relating to Maldivians performing the holy pilgrimages of Hajj and Umrah, and ways to improve the services.
Shahid also paid a visit to the Maldivian embassy in Saudi Arabia.
Minister Shahid thanked the Saudi Foreign Minister and other officials of the Saudi government for the productive discussions and dialogue. He expressed confidence that the brotherly relations between Maldives and Saudi Arabia will continue to prosper.
Minister Shahid was accompanied by the Secretary of Policy at President’s Office Aminath Shauna, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Shiaan and officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Embassy of Maldives in Saudi Arabia.
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