Minister Shahid concludes his Official Visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Minister Shahid concludes his Official Visit to the Kingdom ... Image 1

 

15 February 2019

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Abdulla Shahid return to Male’ after concluding his three day Official Visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 12 to 14 February 2019.

During the visit, Minster Shahid held fruitful discussions with senior officials of the Saudi Government. Minister Shahid met with His Excellency Dr. Ibrahim Bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Ministers discussed ways of further strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. Minister Shahid and Minister Al-Assaf also explored avenues to ease the procedure on obtaining Saudi visa for Maldivians and further discussed on the timely completion of the King Salman Mosque being built in Male’ City. Minister Al-Assaf reiterated Saudi Arabia’s commitment to further strengthen the historic and brotherly relations between the two countries and assured that Saudi Arabia will always remain, as a close development partner. Minister Al-Assaf also hosted a lunch in honour of Minister Shahid.

Minister Shahid also met with His Excellency Dr. Majid Bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, Minister of Commerce and Investment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Both Ministers discussed on increasing Saudi investments in Maldives and holding a networking forum for businesses in Riyadh. The Ministers also discussed on expanding cooperation in the commercial field between both coutries and explored ways to further optimise the processing of Saudi Government funded scholarships offered for Maldivians.

During the meeting with His Excellency Dr. Hamad Bin Sulaiman Al-Bazai, Vice Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Minister Shahid, assurance was given on Saudi Arabia’s commitment to assist the Maldives to achieve the developmental goals set by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration.

Earlier, Minister Shahid had a fruitful meeting with His Excellency 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. During the meeting, Minister Shahid shared key ongoing projects as well as main projects planned by the new administration and explored areas to target the assistance from Saudi Fund. In this context, both Minister Shahid and Chairman Al Khatib discussed on initiating projects in the areas of fisheries and housing. The ongoing project of new developments to Velana InternationalAairport was also discussed during the meeting. Chairman Al Khatib assured continued support of the Saudi Fund for Development to the economic agenda of Maldives. A team from Saudi Fund for Development will be visiting Maldives in the coming week for further discussions.

Before his departure, Minister Shahid also met with His Excellency Dr. Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten, Minister of Hajj and Umrah of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. During the meeting, both Ministers discussed issues relating to Maldivians performing Hajj and Umrah and explored ways to improve the services.

During the visit Minister Shahid also visited the Embassy of Republic of Maldives in Saudi Arabia.

Upon conclusion of the Official Visit, Minister Shahid thanked the Saudi Foreign Minister and other Ministers for the productive discussions and dialogue. Minister Shahid is confident that the  brotherly relations with Saudi will continue to prosper.
Minister Shahid was accompanied by the Secretary, Policy, of the President’s Office, Her Excellency Aminath Shauna, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Ahmed Shiaan, and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of the Republic of Maldives in Saudi Arabia.
 
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