Maldives, Sri Lanka Joint Commission third session concludes

Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera led the Sri Lanka delegation to the third Session of the Maldives–Sri Lanka Joint Commission held from February 8-9 in the Maldives.

The Maldivian delegation was led by Maldivian Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Mohamed Asim, Education Minister Dr. Aishath Shiham, and Gender and Family Minister Aminath Zenysha Shaheed Zaki.

The Ministerial meeting was preceded by the Meeting of Senior Officials held on February 8, co-chaired by Foreign Affairs Ministry Additional Secretary Ranjith Uyangoda, and Maldives Foreign Ministry Secretary (Bilateral Affairs) Ahmed Khaleel.

Minister Samaraweera called on Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom. The Joint Commission focused on further expanding bilateral cooperation in economic cooperation and trade, fisheries, education, health, tourism and cultural cooperation between the two countries. Both sides agreed to redouble their efforts to bolster engagement to promote opportunities for investment and joint ventures.

Both sides agreed to constitute a joint working group to promote trade in goods and services in a more focused manner and agreed to take forward decisions of the existing joint task force on tourism to explore the potential for further cooperation.

The Commission noted the outcome of the Maldives-Sri Lanka Sub Commission on fisheries constituted in 2007 and agreed to reconvene the task force at a mutually convenient time in order that all issues relating to fisheries cooperation could be addressed.

The two sides recognised the importance of implementation of the existing agreement on sports cooperation and also noted that education and health are key areas of cooperation and underscored the need to implement the MoUs signed in those fields.

The enhancement of bilateral cooperation in areas such as employment, consular and community issues, legal and law enforcement, and culture was thoroughly discussed.

The agreed minutes of the Joint Commission was signed by Foreign Ministers at the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Maldives. The next session is scheduled to be in Colombo in 2019.