China-Maldives FTA will usher in ‘revolutionary development,’ says Yameen

A landmark China-Maldives free trade agreement signed last week will help pave the way for the “revolutionary development”, President Abdulla Yameen said Tuesday night.

In his first public remarks on the controversial FTA, Yameen urged the public to work with his administration to achieve development goals and complete flagship projects.

“As a result of the free trade agreement signed between the Maldives and China, the country’s efforts toward development will speed up and further pave the way for the revolutionary development that Maldivians deserve,” he was quoted as saying by Sun Online.

Yameen was speaking at the opening ceremony of a campaign office in the capital, a new multi-storey building located at the old West Park Restaurant site on the northwestern corner of Malé.

The government insists the terms of the country’s first FTA, which was rushed through parliament last month, would be more favourable to the Maldives. But the opposition has called to defer its implementation “until a proper feasibility study is conducted to ensure the Agreement is in the best interest of the Maldives both economically and also to ensure the Agreement does not place Maldives in a geo-politically vulnerable position.”