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Maldives and Japan to celebrate 45th anniversary of bilateral relations

Maldives and Japan will jointly celebrate the 45^th anniversary of the Maldives-Japanese bilateral relations later this year in October, Foreign Minister Naseem has said after a recent bilateral visit to Tokyo.

In a special press conference held to brief the media on Minister Naseem’s visit to Tokyo from 16 – 19 January 2012, Minister Naseem also said that he had consultations with a wide cross-section of Japanese officials, including MPs, government officials, business community and travel and tourism related officials.

Minister Naseem also said that during his meetings with business and tourism community, he had briefed them of the investment opportunities in the Maldives and used the opportunity to garner more tourist arrivals from Japan, including through direct flights from Tokyo to Male. The proposals from Tokyo on the establishment of air connections between Tokyo and Male would be forwarded to the relevant ministries of the Maldives Government, according to Minister Naseem.

In addition to meetings, Minister Naseem also delivered a lecture at United Nations University in Tokyo, on democratic transition in the Arab world and also gave interviews to several media sources in Tokyo.

During the three day visit, Minister Naseem met with his counterpart in Tokyo, and senior officials from Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Agriculture and also the leader of the opposition party.

Minister Naseem also had a separate meeting with the senior officials of JAICA, an organization which has been very active in sending volunteers to Maldives, and urged them to send more volunteers. Minister Naseem also met with the President of HITACHI, a shareholder of the Maldives Water and Sewerage Company and discussed future programmes of the Company in the Maldives.

Minister Naseem also said that in his meetings with Japanese fish importers, they have expressed interest to make further investments in the Maldives to increase their imports from Maldives.