26th September 2011, Male'; The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Hon. Ahmed Naseem met Hon. Alistair Burt, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of the United Kingdom for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
During the bilateral talks, Hon. Ahmed Naseem expressed his gratitude to Hon. Alistair Burt for the support he had given to the democracy movement in the Maldives. Hon. Naseem went on to highlight the importance of democracy to the Maldives and stated that, "the idea is to build democracy, not just to win elections". He emphasized the strong commitment of Maldives to transparency, an independent judiciary and to anti-corruption measures, and acknowledged that there remains more to be done.
Minister Naseem further commented on the economic potential of SAARC and discussed how enhanced regional trade could lead to mutually beneficial results in South Asia.
Hon. Alistair Burt conveyed his strong support for Human Rights and complimented the Maldives on its efforts.He further discussed the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, Australia.
Other issues that were discussed included the investment of British Companies in green technology in the Maldives and also efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
The meeting was also attended by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Aslam Shakir, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hawla Ahmed Didi, the High Commissioner of Maldives to the United Kingdom, Dr. Farahanaz Faizal, the High Commissioner of Maldives to Bangladesh, Ahmed Sareer and Deputy Permanent Representative of Maldives Mission to the UN, Thilmeeza Hussain.
END.