Honorable Mr. Adam Shareef Umar, Minister of Cities, Local Government and Public Works,

Honorable Mr. Thoriq Ibrahim, Minister of Climate Change, Environment and Energy ,

Respected senior officals from the relevent ministries,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon!

It is my great pleasure to attend the handover ceremony of the civil vehicles donated by Shandong Province of China to the Ministry of Cities, Local Government and Public Works of Maldives, which is a new testament to our traditional friendship and close cooperation.

China andMaldives are friendly neighbors. Our traditional friendship dates back to ancient times. Over the past 52 years since the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries, our friendly cooperation in various fields has maintained a very good momentum, which has brought tremendous benefits to our two peoples. The China-Maldives Friendship Bridge, large number of social housing units and Velana International Airport’s expansion have brought transformative changes to Maldives and its people’s life.

Early this year, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Dr. Muizzu paid a very successful and fruitful state visit to China. The two heads of state jointly announced the elevation of our bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and reached important consensus on further promoting exchanges and cooperation in all fields. This visit has opened a new chapter for China-Maldives friendly cooperation and will take our bilateral relations to a new high.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The vigorous and fruitful China-Maldives cooperation is, in large part, driven by the robust and continuous growth of Chinese economy. We are glad to see that the recovery of the Chinese economy continues to pick up and the momentum is still strengthened. China's GDP grew by 5.2 percent last year, making it one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world. China's contribution to world economic growth has remained at around 30 percent of the total, and it has maintained its position as the largest country in global trade in goods. The solid fundamentals of strong resilience, great potential and full vitality of Chinese economy have been further enhanced and the prospects for the long-term development of the Chinese economy remain unchanged. China's focus on developing new quality productive forces and promoting high-quality development will create great opportunities for businesses both at home and abroad, and inject strong impetus into global economic recovery and growth. It is no doubt that the dividends created by China’s modernization will bring more benefits and certainties to the world, including Maldives.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Street-cleaning and environmental protection reflects the management capacity of the city government and also matters to the well-being of every resident. I believe the 10 civil vehicles donated by Shandong Province of China will help improve the management capacity of Male and other islands’ Councils and boost their ongoing efforts of waste-collection and street-cleaning, making Maldives a more comfortable and beautiful place not only to the local residents but also to foreign tourists.

The Chinese side is ready to further strengthen the local government cooperation between the two countries especially in the area of new energy, environment protection, etc., which will surely help promote Maldives’ sustainable development and China-Maldives friendly relations with strong vitality and fresh progress.

Thank you very much!