News

Maldives shares Maldives’ ambitious multilateral agenda with UNSG

Published

2 days ago

28/06/2024

Minister of Foreign Affairs Moosa Zameer has shared the ambitious multilateral agenda of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration with the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres. This discussion took place during Minister Zameer’s visit to New York City as part of his itinerary in the United States.

In the meeting, Minister Zameer emphasised the importance of building on the momentum from the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4). He highlighted the crucial role of the UN System in achieving sustainable development, peace, and security, and praised the Secretary General for his continuous efforts to uphold the UN Charter.

Secretary General Guterres acknowledged the leadership role of the Maldives at the SIDS4 Conference and other multilateral forums, particularly in climate change and financing for development. He reiterated the UN’s commitment to supporting the achievement of sustainable development goals and ensuring global peace and security.

Minister Zameer was accompanied by the Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the UN, Ambassador Dr. Ali Naseer Mohamed, Secretary for Bilateral Affairs Dr. Hala Hameed, Senior Undersecretary Hassan Hussain Shihab, and Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission of the Maldives to the UN, Naufa Rushdi.

In another meeting with the Under Secretary General of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), Li Junhua, discussions focused on how the Maldives can collaborate with the UN DESA to enhance resilience, productivity, and capacity.

Minister Zameer also engaged with the Maldivian community in New York and New Jersey over evening tea, assuring them that maintaining and enhancing consular services is a high priority. He hosted a working lunch for tour operators and travel advisors based in New York, providing an overview of the Maldivian tourism industry and stressing the importance of promoting Maldives tourism in the US market.

Furthermore, Minister Zameer met with the Ambassador of Palestine to the UN, Riyad Mansour, and reiterated the Maldives’ solidarity with Palestine and their right to self-determination. He called for an immediate end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and expressed support for the admission of Palestine as a full UN member.

Minister Zameer’s US visit began in Washington, D.C., where he held meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Samantha Power, the US Council on Foreign Relations, and several congress members. He also met with the Maldivian community residing in Washington.

Source(s): PsmNews

News

Minister Saeed extends gratitude to ICBC for support

Published

14 hours ago

30/06/2024

Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed has extended gratitude to the management Industrial Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) for support rendered to the Maldives.

Minister Saeed, as part of his ongoing official visit to China, visited the bank’s headquarters in capital Beijing on Saturday.

He added that the bank’s support affirmed the importance attached by the Chinese side to extend their full support to implement the consensus reached between the presidents of Maldives and China.

Minister Saeed’s visit to China was to attend the 15th World Economic Forum, held at the Dalian Congress Hall in Dalian Province, China, from June 25th to June 27th.

As part of this visit, he has also met with the management of People’s bank of China (PBC) during which both sides deliberated on ways to expand cooperation between the two nations.

Besides this, the Minister also met with the Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, for discussions related to the free trade agreement (FTA) between the Maldives and China.

The chief of this discussion was on establishing a currency settlement system between the two countries, to enhance trade and commerce ties.

It is a key priority of Dr. Muizzu’s administration to seek such currency settlement agreements with bigger economic allies and frequent trade collaborators, to enhance trade convenience.

Source(s): sun.mv

News

50 undocumented migrants handed over to Immigration

Published

14 hours ago

30/06/2024

50 undocumented migrants were handed over to the custody of Maldives Immigration on Saturday, during a joint operation carried out by the Immigration and Maldives Police Service on Saturday.

Police said the operation was focused on various areas of Male’ including the local market and other similar markets.

50 undocumented migrants were identified during the operation, noted the Police, adding all of them have now been handed over to the custody of Immigration.

As per the Police, Saturday’s operation was spearheaded by Immigration itself.

Home Minister Ali Ihusan said the issue of undocumented migrants would be resolved in three years under the recently launched ‘Operation Kurangi’.

However, he stressed that the goal is not to arrest and deport migrants, but to give them a chance to get regularized.

Notably, Maldives has recently halted the recruitment of unskilled laborers from Bangladesh due to illegal recruitment by submission of counterfeit documents.

Source(s): sun.mv

News

Customs nab MVR 1.6 mil worth smuggled cigarettes

Published

19 hours ago

30/06/2024

Maldives Customs Service has confiscated MVR 1.6 million worth of smuggled cigarettes.

Customs on Saturday said it recently conducted inspects in Male’ and Hulhumale’, as part of an investigation on alleged smuggled contraband.

The authority inspected one location from Hulhumale’ on Monday last week, and four venues from Male’ and Hulhumale’ later on Wednesday last week as part of the investigation.

173 cartons of 1,731,597 cigarettes were confiscated through Customs’ raids, with an estimated market value of MVR 1.6 million.

The duty on the now confiscated cigarette cartons is worth MVR 5.6 million, customs added.

Maldives Police Service and the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) both lended support in Customs’ operations. The authority thanked both law enforcement agencies for their support.

Source(s): sun.mv