Four hospitals to be developed in Maldives with China’s assistance

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was executed on Sunday to conduct a feasibility on four hospitals that will be developed at four islands in the Maldives with Chinese assistance.

The agreement was signed during a special ceremony on Sunday as part of Vice Chairman of the Chinese International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA)’s Vice Chairman Deng Boqin’s ongoing visit to the Maldives. Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and the Chinese Ambassador to the Maldives Wang Lixin presided over the signing ceremony.

‘Letters of Exchange on the Feasibility Study on Hospitals in Maldives’ was signed by State Minister for Health Ahmed Adil on behalf of the Maldivian government.

Four regional hospitals – two in northern Maldives and two in southern Maldives – will be developed under this project. The islands these hospitals will be situated at are; HA. Dhidhdhoo, R. Alifushi, Dh. Kudahuvadhoo and GA. Villingili.

Three other agreements were executed during Sunday’s ceremony.

They include ‘MoU between China International Development Cooperation Agency of the Government of the People’s Republic of China and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives on Development Cooperation Plan (2023-2025)’ which focuses on promoting collaboration in areas such as health care, climate change, infrastructure, agriculture, people-to-people exchanges and disaster prevention and reduction, promote economic and social development and improve people's lives and livelihood in the Maldives. Foreign Secretary Ahmed Latheef signed the agreement on behalf of the Maldivian government.

‘Letters of Exchange on Renovation of the Maldives National Museum’ was signed by State Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Mohamed Thoriq while ‘Letters of Exchange on the Maintenance of the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge’ was signed by State Minister for National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Akram Kamaluddin.

On behalf of CIDCA, all agreements were signed by Vice Chairman Deng Boqin.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Shahid reiterated the close relations the Maldives presently enjoys with China and thanked the Chinese Government for their kind contributions towards the socio-economic development of the Maldives. He also stressed the significant impact the development of critical infrastructure such as hospitals would have on the daily lives of Maldivian people.

Deng, who also spoke at the ceremony, assured full cooperation from CIDCA in the implementation of these projects.

He also expressed interest in working alongside Maldives on the Global Security Initiative (GSI) – a plan put forth by Chinese President Xi Jinping in April 2022.