President to make state visit to
Australia
President Mohamed Nasheed will depart
Tuesday evening on an historic State Visit to Australia. The President is making
the visit at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
During the visit, the President will be given a ceremonial welcome in the
Australian capital, Canberra, with a full military guard of honour.
President Nasheed will meet with Prime Minister Rudd and Australia’s Governor
General Quentin Bryce. He is scheduled to hold talks with other key Australian
officials and will also meet with Maldivian students in Canberra.
Under diplomatic protocol, a State Visit is the most prestigious visit a Head of
State can make to another country and is reserved for special occasions.
Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair said the State Visit was a “tremendous honour for
the Maldives.”
“Our country is becoming increasingly important on the world stage. People now
listen to what the Maldives has to say on issues of international importance,”
added Zuhair.
Zuhair noted that the Australian government will pay for most of the costs
incurred during the visit. “We will pay for our air tickets to Australia but the
Australians have kindly agreed to pay for all other expenses,” said the Press
Secretary.
In September 2009, the President’s Office announced that the President would be
unable to travel abroad during the remainder of 2009, in an effort to save money
and help improve the public finances. Since the announcement, however, friendly
countries have stepped in to pay the costs of the President’s overseas trips.
In October 2009, the Indian government paid for the President and his
delegation’s trip to New Delhi and the EU and the United Nations paid for the
trip to the Copenhagen climate change talks.
This year, foreign third parties have also paid for the President’s trip to Abu
Dhabi in January and the President’s most recent trip to Malaysia. The United
Nations paid part of the cost of the President’s trip to South Korea.
Referring to the benefits of the President’s visits abroad, the Press Secretary
said, “It is important for the President to make these visits to boost tourism
and investments to the Maldives and ensure international aid and assistance for
our country”.
Australia pledged a substantial amount of assistance to the Maldives during the
Maldives Donor Conference in March.