Male’ Maldives – United Arab Emirates (UAE) has donated essential medical supplies and equipment worth MVR 77.3 million to Maldives amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed that the equipment includes:
- 100,000 Hand sanitizers.
- 225,000 KN95 masks.
- 2,500,000 surgical masks.
- 5000 box of gloves (100 per box).
- 75,000 disposable gowns with shoe covers
- 10,000 face shields
- PCR extraction machine
- 30,000 diagnotic extraction kits
- 2 Real-time PCR systems
Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the PCR machines are able to test 96 samples per hour, increasing the speed of samples being tested in Maldives and enhancing the work done to fight against the virus.
On April 10th 2020 Abdulla Shahid of the Ministry had a call with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the UAE Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed. Shahid informed the minister of UAE about the current situation of Maldives and had also informed about the aid needed by Maldives due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Shahid send sincere gratitude to the government of UAE for the generous donation of essential medical supplies and equipment to the Maldivian society. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated that this is a progress towards the “new normal” of Maldives.
The Maldivian government has appreciated the help send by the UAE government whenever the Maldives has faced difficulties.
On 9th March 2020, Shahid also signed an agreement with the UAE to receive aid worth MVR 771 million
Since President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was elected as president in Maldives on 17th November 2018, the bond between the Maldives and UAE has increased to a great extent. The President has travelled to the UAE two times up to date. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdullah Shahid also visited UAE on his first trip abroad on behalf of the president.
Thenceforth, there has been trips to the UAE and meetings with the higher authorities of UAE several times.
