Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed has met with leading firms in Brisbane specialising in green energy solutions to address climate change.
Dr Waheed met with representatives of up to 10 companies, and noted that the experience of those companies in South Pacific island countries were particularly useful to the initiatives to be undertaken in the Maldives.
Many of the companies expressed interest in starting on the ground operations in the Maldives with small scale operations within the next 6 months.
The Vice President informed the companies that the government was willing to provide all necessary support for this.
Among some of the technologies which were introduced to the Dr Waheed included biogas, fuel cell technology, wind and solar energy.
Separately, Vice President also met with representatives of the University of Southern Queensland (USC) and the Queensland Institute of Technology.
The USC officials informed the University was establishing a centre for sustainable development and expressed their desire to work closely with the government of Maldives, including looking at the possibility of providing opportunities for research students from the Maldives.
Queensland Institute of Technology officials said that they would visit the Maldives in November to establish areas of capacity building, particularly in environmental legislation and regulation. The Institute will work to increase greater funding from AusAid for those undertakings.
Vice President also visited the Springfield development zone in Brisbane where he was met by the Managing Director of the project.
Springfield development zone is a multi-billion dollar project that involves the construction of a new city outside of Brisbane which will cater for approximately 100,000 residents.
The Springfield Corporation agreed to share their experiences and lessons with the Maldives.
