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.