Maldives always attaches importance to developing relations with Vietnam.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Maldives diplomatic relations (1975-2025), Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives Trinh Thi Tam paid a working visit to Maldives from August 22-26.

Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam paid a courtesy call to Speaker of the Maldives Parliament Abdul Raheem Abdulla.

During the visit, Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam paid a courtesy call to Speaker of the National Assembly Abdul Raheem Abdulla, Minister of State for Tourism and Environment Abdulla Niyaz, worked with Deputy Minister in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aminath Shabeena and Director General of the Maldives Civil Aviation Authority Hussain Jaleel, and met with a number of Maldivian businesses interested in the Vietnamese market in the fields of trade, tourism, and aviation.

Paying a courtesy call to Speaker of the National Assembly Abdul Raheem Abdulla, the Ambassador expressed his pleasure to meet the Speaker and congratulated the recent achievements of Maldives, including the great contributions of the Maldivian Parliament and the Speaker personally.

National Assembly Speaker Abdulla congratulated Vietnam on its achievements after 80 years of independence, saying that Vietnam is becoming a development model for many countries in the region, including the Maldives.

Discussing bilateral relations, National Assembly Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla expressed satisfaction with the increasingly strengthened traditional friendship between Vietnam and Maldives over the past 50 years.

Affirming that Maldives always attaches importance to strengthening and developing relations with Vietnam, Speaker of the National Assembly Abdul Raheem Abdulla said that the Maldives Parliament has established the Maldives-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Group with 42 members to contribute to promoting relations, especially through the parliamentary channel; expressing his readiness to visit Vietnam at a time favorable to both sides.

Speaker of the National Assembly Abdul Raheem Abdulla said that the two countries have many opportunities for cooperation in areas such as tourism, trade, investment, seafood processing, etc., and at the same time proposed that Vietnam create favorable conditions, exempt or grant visas at border gates for all types of Maldivian passports, on the basis of reciprocity.

Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam said that although two-way trade between the two countries is still modest, at less than 30 million USD/year, there is still a lot of potential because resorts in Maldives have a high demand for imported products from Vietnam, especially fresh and frozen fruits, seafood (because Maldives mainly exploits tuna), along with agricultural products, consumer goods and construction materials. Maldives currently has an investment project to build a resort in Phu Quoc worth 100 million USD.

In 2025, the two sides completed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Air Transport, creating a legal framework for the plan to open a direct flight route between the two countries in the coming time. The two sides also maintained cooperation and mutual support at multilateral mechanisms and forums, especially within the framework of the United Nations.

Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam worked with Minister of State for Tourism and Environment Abdulla Niyaz.

At a meeting with Minister of State for Tourism and Environment Abdulla Niyaz, Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam expressed her joy at seeing the increasing number of tourists from Maldives to Vietnam; and noted that Maldives is becoming an attractive destination for Vietnamese tourists, with a group of 90 Vietnamese tourists visiting Maldives last week alone.

Minister of State Abdulla Niyaz highly appreciated the potential for tourism cooperation between the two countries; suggested that Vietnam study investment in building resorts in Maldives, promote vocational training and internships in the tourism sector, coordinate in organizing promotional activities such as culinary festivals, exchanges between travel companies, etc.

Emphasizing the need to increase experience exchange on sustainable cultural heritage conservation associated with tourism development, Mr. Abdulla Niyaz proposed that the two sides soon negotiate and sign a cooperation agreement on tourism.

Minister of State Abdulla Niyaz also proposed strengthening cooperation on environmental protection, especially marine environment and rising sea level issues.

Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam works with Maldives Deputy Foreign Minister Aminath Shabeena.

At the meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Aminath Shabeena, Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam conveyed a letter from President Luong Cuong inviting President Mohamed Muizzu to attend the signing ceremony of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime hosted by Vietnam in October 2025, and emphasized the significance of this event.

In the spirit of good cooperation at the United Nations, the Ambassador asked the Maldives Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote President Mohamed Muizzu's visit to Vietnam and attendance at the signing ceremony.

Deputy Minister Aminath Shabeena said that the President and Foreign Minister of Maldives are working abroad, but through the Ambassador - conveyed to the leaders and people of Vietnam, the congratulatory message on the 80th National Day and the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-Maldives diplomatic relations.

Agreeing that the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs need to actively promote delegation exchanges and high-level contacts, soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the two ministries and implement a bilateral cooperation mechanism, Deputy Minister Aminath Shabeena highly appreciated the Embassy's initiative to organize a quiz contest to learn about Vietnam-Maldives relations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of relations, contributing to raising awareness and interest of Maldivian people in Vietnam.

Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam worked with Director of the Maldives Civil Aviation Authority Hussain Jaleel.

Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority Hussain Jaleel expressed his delight that the two sides had completed negotiations and signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Air Transport, affirming their determination to cooperate to soon open direct flights between the capital Malé of Maldives and major cities of Vietnam, in order to promote tourism and trade.

Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam met with the diplomatic corps in Male.

During her working trip, Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam organized a ceremony to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Vietnam's National Day (1945-2025) and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Maldives diplomatic relations (1975-2025), with the participation of Maldives Deputy Foreign Minister Raheem Abdulla, Ambassadors, Consuls General, Honorary Consuls of countries in Malé, Maldivian businesses and representatives of the Vietnamese community.

At the ceremony, the Ambassador also awarded prizes to Maldivian citizens who won the quiz contest to learn about Vietnam-Maldives relations.

On this occasion, the Embassy also screened video clips about Vietnam's achievements after 80 years of independence.

Delegates attending the 80th Anniversary of Vietnam National Day.

Maldivian businesses proposed the idea of ​​establishing the Maldives Business Association in Vietnam and the Maldives-Vietnam Friendship Association, opening a Trade Promotion Center to promote cooperation and people-to-people exchange; proposed many initiatives on expanding aviation, tourism and trade cooperation between the two countries - including exporting fresh or canned skipjack and yellowfin tuna to Vietnam; and deploying business class air services to serve high-spending tourists from Vietnam.

Ambassador Trinh Thi Tam met with representatives of the Vietnamese community in Male.

The Embassy also organized a meeting and presented Mid-Autumn gifts to representatives of the Vietnamese community in the Maldives.

Currently, Maldives has about 50 Vietnamese people living and working - mainly freelance workers at resorts and some women married to Maldivians. Due to geographical conditions, the Vietnamese community lives scattered on many islands, only a few families reside in the capital Male.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/maldives-luon-coi-trong-phat-trien-quan-he-voi-viet-nam-325752.html