The Non-resident Ambassador of Tunisia, Nejmeddine Lakhal, presents his Letter of Credence to President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
At the ceremony held at the President's Office, the President congratulated the Ambassador on the commencement of his term and welcomed the Ambassador to the Maldives. During the call, the President conveyed greetings and personal best wishes to the President of Tunisia, Beji Caid Essebsi. Maldives and Tunisia have enjoyed over three decades of bilateral relations and expressed confidence for closer collaboration to further strengthen the existing relations between the two countries, during the Ambassador's tenure, the President noted.
Speaking of the Maldives' candidature to the United Nations Security Council, as a non-permanent member for the term 2009-2020, President Yameen expressed hope that the Maldives can count on the support of Tunisia for its inaugural candidacy, as an important and valued member of the African Group. The President reflected on the Maldives' contribution to the causes of global peace and security, counter-terrorism and climate change. He also noted that over the last five decades at the U.N., the Maldives has wielded substantial impact in these areas regardless of its relative size and limited resources, and emphasized that membership at the Security Council should therefore be representative of the intent, commitment and willingness to serve.
The Ambassador thanked the President for his warm welcome and conveyed greetings and good wishes of the President and the people of Tunisia to the Government and the people of the Maldives. He expressed his honour to represent Tunisia as the Ambassador to the Maldives, and assured his commitment to work closely with the Maldives to steer the existing relations of friendship and cooperation towards new dimensions, for the benefit of the two brotherly countries and for their peoples.