Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid return to Male' after concluding his three-day official visit to Saudi Arabia from February 12 to 14.
During the visit, the foreign minister held successful discussions with senior officials of the Government of Saudi Arabia. In this regard, Minister Shahid met Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia Dr. Ibrahim Bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Assaf.
During the meeting, 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 Arabian visa for Maldivians and further discussed on the timely completion of the King Salman Mosque built in Male' City.
Minister Al-Assaf reiterated the commitment of Saudi Arabia to further strengthen the historic and brotherly relations between the two countries and assured Saudi Arabia will always remain, as a close development partner. Minister Al-Assaf also hosted a lunch in honour of Minister Shahid.
Furthermore, the Maldivian foreign minister also met with Minister of Commerce and Investment of Saudi Arabia Dr. Majid Bin Abdullah Al Qasabi. Both ministers discussed on increasing Saudi Arabian 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 countries and explored ways to further optimise the processing of scholarships offered for Maldivians, which are funded by the Government of Saudi Arabia.
During the meeting with Vice Minister of Finance of Saudi Arabia Dr. Hamad Bin Sulaiman Al-Bazai and Minister Shahid, assurance was given on the commitment to assist Maldives to achieve the developmental goals set by the administration of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
Earlier, Minister Shahid had successful discussions with Adviser at the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Fund for Development Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khatib.
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 expanding Velana International Airport (VIA) was also discussed during the meeting.
Chairman Al-Khatib assured continued support of the Saudi Fund for Development to the economic agenda of Maldives. In this regard, 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 Minister of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia Dr. Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten and 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 Maldives in Saudi Arabia.
Upon conclusion of the official visit, Minister Shahid thanked the Saudi Arabian foreign minister and other ministers for the productive discussions and dialogue.