Foreign Minister Dr. Mohamed Asim hasconcluded his official visit to Brussels.
On Tuesday, he met with DeputySecretary General for Political Affairs at the European External Action Service,Mr. Julien-Christophe Belliard.
During the meeting with Mr. Belliard,the minister highlighted the importance of continuing the EU-Maldives PolicyDialogue, which has proved to be a great success and a useful platform todiscuss issues of relevance to both parties, such as climate change, counteringterrorism, strengthening democracy and governance and improving trade andtourism cooperation between the Maldives and the EU.
He also informed Mr. Belliard aboutthe re-election of the Maldives as the chair of the Alliance of Small IslandStates (AOSIS) for a second term.
Mr. Belliard expressed hisappreciation for the leadership role played by the Maldives during the COP 21in reaching a consensus agreement, and noted that the re-election of Maldivesas chair of AOSIS is a clear recognition of the successful leadership byMaldives.
He called on the Maldives to continueits international efforts as Chair of the AOSIS and voice of small islanddeveloping states (SIDS) in fighting climate change, and said that the EU willalways support SIDS in this arena.
The Foreign Minister began his firstofficial visit to Belgium on Friday.