By Usman Khan
On Monday, November 28, 2022, the United States of America delivered a further USD 3 million to Maldives in a ceremony at the Foreign Ministry. The US fresh additional assistance with the ninth amendment to the Development Objective Grant Agreement (DOAG) signed by Maldivian State Minister for Foreign Affairs and USAID Mission Director.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the additional USD 3 million will go to improve Maldives’ technical capacity to manage public finances and improve the resilience of Maldives’ economic and democratic governance. The DOAG, a landmark development cooperation agreement, was signed between the Maldives and the US on March 12, 2019.
The United States partners with the Government of Maldives to reinforce environmental resilience, implement financial and democratic improvements, and shape a robust civil society. USAID programs emphasize defending the environment, enlarging democratic governance, and firming public financial management.
Maldivian State Minister for Foreign Affairs and USAID Mission Director sign the ninth amendment to the DOAG on November 28, 2022. To date, eight amendments have been brought to this agreement, bringing the total contribution from the US to USD 25.94 million. The signing ceremony of the ninth amendment to the DOAG was witnessed by senior officials from the Foreign Ministry, the USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Asia, and officials from USAID Mission to the Maldives.
More information about the Maldives is available on the Maldives Page and from other Department of State publications and other sources listed at the end of this fact sheet. The United States established diplomatic relations with the Maldives in 1966 following its independence and has since enjoyed friendly ties. The United States has sought to support Maldives’ ongoing democratic initiatives, economic development, and social and environmental ambitions.
The United States recognizes the importance of promoting security in the Indian Ocean and has worked closely with the Maldives on a range of security-related issues, including counterterrorism. The United States and the Maldives signed the “Framework for U.S. Department of Defense-Maldives Ministry of Defense and Security Relationship” in September 2020. The U.S. Mission to Maldives, which is currently based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, operates an American Center in Male and is in the process of establishing a physical embassy in Maldives.
The U.S. foreign assistance resources aim primarily to strengthen democratic institutions, civil society, fiscal transparency, maritime security, counterterrorism, and law enforcement and above all to get Maldives support in Indo-specific.
Maldives has signed a trade and investment framework agreement with the United States and held its first meeting in October 2014, providing a forum to examine ways to enhance bilateral trade and investment. Maldives has been designated as a beneficiary country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, under which a range of products that Maldives might seek to export would be eligible for duty-free entry to the United States. The GSP program provides an incentive for investors to produce in Maldives and export selected products duty-free to the U.S. market.
Maldives welcomes fresh foreign investment, although the ambiguity of codified law acts as a damper to new investment. Areas of opportunity for U.S. businesses include tourism, construction, and simple export-oriented manufacturing, such as garments and electrical appliance assembly. There is a shortage of local skilled labor, and most industrial labor has to be imported from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, or elsewhere.
Maldives and the United States belong to a number of the same international organizations, including the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization. Bilateral Representation Principal Embassy officials are listed in the Department’s Key Officers list. There is currently no Maldives Embassy in Washington, DC, but its permanent representative to the United Nations in New York is accredited currently as ambassador to the United States.