China-Maldives FTA among 12 agreements penned during Yameen’s visit
The opposition cried foul after the country’s first FTA was rushed through parliament last month but the government says it would open up the world’s largest consumer market for tariff-free fish exports.
09 Dec 2017, 9:00 AM
A controversial Sino-Maldives free trade deal was among 12 bilateral agreements penned during President Abdulla Yameen’s three-day state visit to China.
The FTA was signed by the Maldivian economic development minister and the Chinese minister of commerce at a ceremony held Thursday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing as President Xi Jinping looked on with President Yameen.
The opposition cried foul after the country’s first FTA was rushed through parliament last month but the government says it will open up the world’s largest consumer market for tariff-free fish exports. The Maldives also committed to waive import duties for Chinese goods.
Former president Mohamed Nasheed called the deal “disgraceful” and warned that it could destabilise the Indian Ocean region.
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