Foreign Minister Shahid Meets First Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Republic of Serbia

 Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Abdulla Shahid met with the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, His Excellency Ivica Dačić during the morning hours of yesterday.

At the meeting, Minister Shahid and the First Deputy Prime Minister exchanged dialogues on enhancing the existing bilateral relations between the countries across multiple areas. This includes education, cooperation, youth development, health and tourism. 

On this topic, the Serbian government informed the Minister that they are prepared to receive 20-25 young sportspersons between the ages of 12-18 to train them in the sports of volleyball, football and handball. The initiative is set to be realized in mid-2023. In addition to this, the Serbian Government also expressed its willingness to increase the number of scholarships being offered to Maldivian students.

During the meeting, Minister Shahid discussed the possibility of establishing a visa waiver agreement between Maldives and Serbia. In this regard, the Minister stated that it would help to increase people-to-people ties, promote tourism and add to the strengthening bilateral portfolio between the countries. The request is currently under consideration by the Government of Serbia.

Post the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between countries on bilateral political consultation. The MoU strives to consolidate Maldives’ and Serbia’s political engagement by conducting periodic consultations to enhance cooperation on areas of mutual interest.

Minister Shahid was on an official visit to Belgrade at the invitation of his counterpart, Minister Dačić.