His Excellency President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has received credentials from the new ambassadors of New Zealand, Australia Bahrain and Malta today in successive ceremonies held this morning at the President’s Office, conferring status as their government’s chosen representatives to the Maldives.

Following individual formal welcome ceremonies, Their Excellencies, Joanne Tyndall, Ambassador-designate of New Zealand; David John Holly, Ambassador-designate of Australia; Stephen Borg, Ambassador-designate of Malta; and Abdulrahman Mohamed Al-Gaoud, Ambassador-designate of Bahrain, were allotted time to exchange a few remarks with the President.

Each Ambassador spoke warmly of the bilateral relations their countries have with the Maldives, and their eagerness to continue ongoing cooperation with us in fields of mutual benefit. The President, in turn, expressed his keenness to actively engage with all our international partners, to progress the Maldives’ development agenda, whilst upholding his foreign-policy pledge that his administration will solicit the friendship of all nations.

The President thanked the ambassadors in particular for their countries’ participation in the upcoming Maldives Partnership Forum 2019 ‘Investing in a Resilient and Sustainable Maldives’, to be held at Kurumba Maldives from 17 - 18 June 2019. This Forum will be the largest multilateral gathering held in the Maldives in several years and welcomes our development partners from across the globe to pursue new avenues for positive collaboration.

As they take up their new responsibilities, the President wished each ambassador success in fulfilling their duties and expressed his optimism that our friendships will prosper during their ambassadorial tenures.