June 08, Colombo: Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Abdulla Shahid called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the Temple Trees in Colombo on June 7.

During the meeting they exchanged views on strengthening existing areas, and exploring new avenues of cooperation, particularly on trade, investment, education and culture.

Prime Minister’s Media Division said Minister Shahid thanked the Premier for the support given in the education sector and urged to facilitate education opportunities for Maldives students in the field of medicine and post graduate studies on fee-levying basis.

“You have excellent teachers and during my school education all the teachers from grade 1 to 12 were Sri Lankans and I am grateful to them,” the Maldivian Minister said. He said Sri Lanka is the most popular medical destination for the Maldivians.

Minister Shahid said under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed during the current visit health and cultural cooperation would be strengthened. Under the MoU, a Maldivian Cultural Center will be set up in Colombo.

Maldivian Minister pointed out that during the meeting of the Joint Commission two countries assessed the progress of bilateral relations and deliberated on new initiatives and the way forward to further advance cooperation covering multifaceted areas of shared interest including trade & investment, defense, tourism, fisheries, education, health, employment, youth, sports and skills development, consular and cultural affairs.

The Prime Minister said the Maldives could send teachers for training at the UNESCO funded South Asian Teacher Training Center in Sri Lanka to upscale their knowledge and scholarships could be provided with the support from Asian Development Fund and the World Bank.

The Maldives Minister said all the visitors to Sri Lanka are amazed about the rapid recovery made by the country after the double blow of Covid pandemic and economic crisis.

The Prime Minister stressed the need to enhance cooperation in tourism and energy sector, especially solar and wind power.

Minister Shahid was accompanied by Foreign Secretary Ahmed Latheef, High Commissioner of Maldives Ali Faiz, Secretary, Bilateral, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Hala Hameed and Secretary Economic, Dr Hussain Niyaz. Secretary to the Prime Minister, Anura Dissanayake and senior officials were also present on this occasion.