Four important agreements were exchanged on Thursday between the Republic of Maldives and the Kingdom of Bahrain, demonstrating a pivotal point of progress in the two countries’ bilateral relationship.

The ceremony where the agreements were exchanged took place at the Qudaibiya Palace in Bahrain. H.E. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and H.M. King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa presided over the ceremony.

The agreements exchanged today are:

• Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Political Consultations was signed between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Kingdom of Bahrain and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Republic of Maldives.

• Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Cooperation on Diplomatic Training and Exchange of Information and Documentation was signed between the Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa Academy for Diplomatic Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Foreign Service Institute of Maldives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives.

• Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in the Area of Youth and Sports Development between the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain and Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment of the Government of the Republic of Maldives.

• Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Climate Change, between Supreme Council for Environment of the Kingdom of Bahrain and Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Technology the Government of the Republic of Maldives.

At the ceremony, two additional agreements were also announced. The first agreement concerns including Maldives as a sea-to-air partner which provides access to Bahrain’s global sea-to-air logistics hub, and the second agreement grants Maldives sovereignty over the data of its beneficiaries in Bahrain-based data centres.

Prior to the signing ceremony, President Solih and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa held a one-on-one meeting at the Qudaibiya Palace