The working group meetings on the China-Maldives Free Trade Agreement negotiations has commenced in Bandos Island Resort and Spa, this morning.
The formal concluding round of negotiations will be held tomorrow, according to the Ministry of Economic Development. The official discussions on the proposed free trade agreement between the two countries were initiated in September 2015. The first round of the negotiations took place in the Maldives in September 2015, followed by the second round in China. The final and the third round of talks, focused on finalising the agreements reached during the previous talks was concluded in China in October 2016.
Both Maldives and China have accepted the feasibility study on the agreement, Economic Ministry added. It would be the Maldives' first free trade agreement with a foreign country.