A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
The Maldives Trade Union has expressed concern over the government’s commitment to signing a free trade agreement with China. A statement from the union said that the agreement could prove to be detrimental to local businesses, namely small and medium-sized enterprises, as large businesses from China could dominate domestic markets. The statement likened the free […]
President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has stated that the administration would not let developmental opportunities to pass us by or turn our backs on this country’s developmental path. The President made this remark while speaking at a function organized by the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) this afternoon. The President pointed out that there was […]
With Maldives and China entering into a Free Trade Agreement, the nitty-gritty of which is yet to be made public, there’s a mounting concern that the strategically located archipelago could be the next country to walk into a Beijing debt trap, a situation that has serious strategic ramifications for India. In an exclusive interaction with […]
The free trade agreement (FTA) that the Maldives signed last week with China has attracted a lot of attention, with concerns being expressed by Indian media about China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean. The Maldivian government “allowed for less than one hour for the entire parliamentary process to approve the 1,000-plus page document,” and […]
Maldives is the only South Asian country that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not visited yet — one scheduled visit in March 2015 was put off. It is a sign of how much India and the Maldives have drifted apart that New Delhi appears to have been blindsided by the Free Trade Area agreement between […]
President Abdulla Yameen speaks at PPM ceremony. PHOTO: HUSSAIN WAHEED/MIHAARU President Abdulla Yameen on Sunday hit back at opposition criticism regarding the debt amassed by his government, declaring that his administration’s debt would amount to only MVR 1 billion without the “inherited” debt of former president Mohamed Nasheed’s government. Speaking at a ceremony of ruling […]
IMF’s Deputy Division Chief Philippe Karam speaks at press conference at the end of IMF’s annual visit to Maldives. PHOTO: HUSSAIN WAHEED/MIHAARU The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised concerns over the “volatility” of the Maldives’ economic growth. IMF had released a report on Friday, detailing the views of its Executive Board expressed in October, […]
IMAGE: A scene from Male, the Maldivian capital. The man in the posters is Abdulla Yameen, the Maldives’ president. Photograph: Reuters This week, China and the Maldives signed a Free Trade Agreement that took India by surprise. ‘Agreements signed between the Maldives and China have seriously worried India,’ reports Aditi Phadnis. Mohamed Nasheed, the ousted […]
President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has conveyed, in separate messages, felicitations of the 46th National Day of the United Arab Emirates to the President of the United Arab Emirates and Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, His Royal Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab […]