Discussions have been held on strengthening trade ties and developmental cooperation between the Maldives and Indonesia. The discussions were held during a meeting held between President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and the new Ambassador of Indonesia to the Maldives Dewi Gustina Tobing, following the presentation of credentials by the ambassador.
After congratulating the ambassador on her new appointment, President Solih spoke with her about the decades-long history of the relationship between the two countries. He asserted that the close ties were primarily due to close people-to-people contact. He then expressed his hopes of increasing bilateral consultations to further explore new avenues of cooperation to solidify the partnership.
President Solih inquired with the Ambassador about the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and went on to discuss ways to strengthen trade ties, developmental cooperation, and partnership on the regional and international front. He also briefed the ambassador on his administration’s "Free Education Scheme for Degree Students" and inquired about ways of increasing scholarship opportunities for Maldivian students to pursue higher education in Indonesian institutions.
Speaking with the president, the ambassador highlighted that Islam was a strong bridge between the people of the two countries and talked about the approximately 2,000 Indonesians working in the Maldives’ tourism and other economic sectors. The ambassador then assured the president of her interest in strengthening bilateral ties and multilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The president and the ambassador also spoke about increasing tourism between the two countries, with the president inquiring with the ambassador about easing visa facilitation for Maldivian travellers. In conclusion, President Solih expressed his confidence that the relationship between the two countries would flourish during her tenure.
Following her meeting with President Solih, Ambassador Dewi also met with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel. During the meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Minister Khaleel congratulated Ambassador Dewi on presenting her credentials to the President and expressed confidence that the ambassador would strengthen further, the bilateral ties and cooperation between Maldives and Indonesia.
State Minister Khaleel and Ambassador Dewi further exchanged ideas on improving cooperation between both the countries on potential areas, mainly technical cooperation, capacity building, maritime issues, fisheries, connectivity and trade. The state minister and ambassador also discussed common areas of concerns, on climate change and cooperation in the multilateral arena.
The ambassador assured the state minister of her commitment to work with the Government of the Maldives in strengthening the relations between the two countries, and to foster greater cooperation and people to people contact.