Speaking at a ceremony held at Meeruma Hotel, Minister Saeed that the establishment of the development bank will revolutionize the financila sector in the Maldives.

"The government, as well as private parties, will have stakes in the bank, and some foreign investors have already expressed their interest," he said.

"The bank's operations are set to begin sometime in July," Minister Saeed said. The development bank will provide funds for both government and private sector projects.

The government is giving special priority to further expanding the Maldives financial sector, he added.

While a development bank is being established, the government is planning to enact a law to set up international financial centers to expand and increase opportunities within the country's financial sector.

This was confirmed by RACL's Chairman Ahmed Nasif while speaking on a SanguTV program; he highlighted majority of these airports were developed utilizing the minimum requirements for such an establishment.

He stated that the runways in some of these airports measured only between 800 to 900 meters, and would be economically detrimental if the runways and subsequently the airport cannot be expanded in 20 to 30 years time.

He noted the current government's aviation policy includes stretching the airports to accommodate Dash-8 class carriers as a minimum requirement.

Nasif further stressed that the development of an airport alone is not beneficial unless the area consists of economically profitable businesses and ventures. While pointing out to domestic airports with seldom flights, the RACL Chairman stressed on the importance of government policies on developing these areas to ensure economic viability.

"We need to think into the broader future, since this is an investment for the public. If we consider investing, then there should be commercial viability in it," Nasif added.

He highlighted the need to develop tourist properties nearby the airports with seldom flights, adding if the tourism development is expanded as such, these areas will become economically beneficial in two years time; pointing out to the consequences of developing the airports, if the affiliated policies are not implemented thoroughly, he said; though, expressed faith the government was utilizing state funds responsibly.

The current administration's decision on developing more domestic airports has since drawn criticism.

However, Nasif opined that an airport should exist allowing for transportation between the atolls under 20 to 30 minutes. He also stressed the creation of job opportunities and the development of tourism activities due to the airports.

President Dr. Muizzu had earlier announced the decision to establish airports in Sh. Dhiguveli, Sh. Milandhoo, and HA. Dhidhdhdhoo.

Besides this, an international airport in GA. Vilingili is in the pipeline, for which the state has already signed the MoU with the contractor.

Although parliament sittings are scheduled to start at 09:00 hrs every morning, today's live feed started much later. Once the live began, Speaker Mohamed Aslam stated that some MPs remained outside the parliament hall.

Hence, the Speaker announced that the meeting would commence at 10:00 hrs today and announced an intermission.

Once the live feed began again, Aslam said that there still were not enough members to meet the minimum required quorum, but that they would try to meet the quorum for one more hour before cancelling the day's sitting.

However, even at 11:00 hrs, the quorum had not been met. Aslam stated that only ten members of parliament were in attendance at the time.

"I have tried repeatedly. The quorum bell has been rung after eleven, and now five minutes have passed. So I intend to bring this sitting to an end," Aslam said.

While today's sitting has been cancelled, the current 19th People's Majlis will be holding its final sitting on coming Monday.

The representatives were appointed to 6 countries and 3 organisations.

• Mohamed Hussain Shareef as Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 
  Shareef previously served in a ministerial capacity and later as the Ambassador to Japan during the administration of former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Qayyoom.
  
  
• Iruthisham Adam as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. 
  She is a former Youth Minister and Health Minister. As a diplomat, she has served in key posts in London, New York, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Switzerland and in the United Nations.
  
  
• Dr Fazeel Najeeb as Ambassador to China. 
  He is the former Governor of the central bank, Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), and also contested in the most recent Parliamentary Elections for the South Fuvahmulah seat.
  
  
• Dr Ali Naseer Mohamed as Permanent Representative to the United Nations (PMNY). 
  Dr Mohamed has served in the same role previously as well. His service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began when he joined the Ministry in May of 1985, and has worked in many capacities such as Ambassador to the United States and High Commissioner to Canada. He also served as Secretary, Multilateral at the Ministry until he left the Service in September 2022 and was later appointed as Ambassador at Large in November 2023.
  
  
• Geela Ali as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and to the European Union. 
  She is a seasoned diplomat and has also served as the Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Health.
  
  
• Dr Mariyam Shabeena Ahmed as High Commissioner to Malaysia. 
  Prior to this, she worked as a Senior Scientific Officer at Maldives Food and Drug Authority.
  
  
• Masood Imad as High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. 
  He served as Press Secretary during former President Dr Mohamed Waheed's administration.
  
  
• Dr Salma Rasheed as Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva. 
  She is sister to Asma Rasheed, MP elect for Central Maafannu constituency. She is also the aunt of Mohamed Hussain Shareef, who is appointed as Head of Mission to the UAE.
• Mohamed Luveiz as High Commissioner to Singapore. 
  Luveiz’s past experiences include his time as Minister of State for Economic Relations and as member at the Economic and Youth Council during the government of former President Yameen. He also worked on the council of Maldives National University (MNU).

Speaking during an interview given to the Indian newspaper, Press Trust of India (PTI) amid the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) fair currently ongoing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Minister Faisal stated that Maldives promotes safety and peace first and foremost in the tourism industry and that therefore, Indian tourists are also ensured safety in the country.

He asserted that while India is a country with an extensive population, it is also a very valuable market to Maldivian tourism.

India – the country that produced the most number of tourist arrivals to Maldives last year is presently ranked sixth in the list. While 44,000 tourists arrived Maldives for their vacation from India this year, this figure is 5.5 percent of the total tourist arrivals.

Presently, the largest number of tourists visiting Maldives come from China with 87,000 Chinese tourists choosing Maldives as their vacation destination. While the tourist arrival rate currently stands at eight hundred thousand, the government aims to generate 2 million tourist arrivals into the country this year.

Following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Lakshadweep, an archipelago close to the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, on January 2 and 3, 2024 and sharing a few photos of the picturesque atolls on X, the disparaging and abusive remarks by some of Maldivian Ministers; (namely Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid), took fire on social media; to which the Maldivian foreign ministry said that "the government was aware of derogatory remarks".

The said deputy ministers are on suspension since January 7, with full pay! 

The World Travel Awards (WTA) were held within the Arabian Travel Market (ATM).

At the event, Maldives won four awards in the Indian Oceans category:

• Leading Destination
• Leading Honeymoon Destination
• Leading Green Destination
• Leading Dive Destination

Established in 1993, WTA is the leading award ceremony in the industry.

Minister of Tourism Ibrahim Faisal, Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) Board's Chairperson Aisha Nurain Janah, MMPRC CEO Fathimath Thaufeeq and Advisor to the President on Tourism Development Mohamed Khaleel attended the event and accepted the awards earned by the Maldives.

MMPRC states that the Middle Eastern market is key for Maldives' tourism. As of March this year, 13,974 tourists from the Middle East  visited the Maldives.

Noteworthy it is, to recognise the vital role of the previous administration and management of MMPRC in promoting the Maldives as world's leading tourism destination for which the ex-President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih extended his gratitude to the (then) staff for their invaluable contributions to the tourism sector.

The Maldives was named the ‘World’s Leading Destination’ for the third consecutive year at the World Travel Awards (WTA) 2022, while MMPRC claimed the title of ‘World’s Leading Tourism Board’—a first for the Maldives. The awards were unveiled on November 11, 2022, at the WTA Grand Final Gala Ceremony 2022 in Muscat, Oman.

The operation, inaugrated yesterday, at K. Himmafushi, led by the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology, Maldives Immigration, and the Maldives Police Service, aims to identify undocumented immigrants, reintegrate them into the system, and regularise their status.

There will be no foreigners with unconfirmed information by the end of their image and fingerprint collection and subsequent legalization process, said Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusan.

Speaking with press after commencing the ‘Kuran’gi’, Minister Ihusaan said the goal is to only have foreigners with verified information in the country by the end of the campaign.

Minister Ihusan confirmed thorough background and preparatory works of the operation, prior to official commencement, were made in the last five months. The operation also serves the purpose of identifying root cause of illegal migrants' influx to the Maldives, and present a permanent fix to the issue.

The operation, which is expected to span three years, will initially focus on identifying undocumented immigrants and reintegrating them into the system. This phase is planned to be completed within a year.

Ihusaan underscored the issue of migrant workers being employed by an individual or company other than their sponsor. “Numerous individuals [immigrants] are engaging in this practice persistently. The societal implications of these actions are substantial. The risk posed to the state is also significant,” he said.

A similar campaign was also run by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration in 2019. With the aim of tackling the overwhelming number of undocumented migrants in the country, more than 40,000 migrants were registered in that project.

Reflecting on this previous experience, Minister Ihsan said that foreigners living in local islands faced many issues getting themselves registered, as the registration process was taking place in the capital, Malé.

To resolve this, arrangements have been made for photographing and fingerprint collection to be made from local island councils. If the islands are classified as resorts or industrial islands, members of the campaign’s taskforce will travel to the islands.

However, Ihusaan emphasised that the operation’s primary focus is not to arrest and deport immigrants but to identify them and their activities. He also stated that the authorities would facilitate undocumented immigrants seeking new sponsors and regularising within the system.

The minister also acknowledged the demand for unskilled labour in the Maldives, which he expects to increase with the launch of the government’s infrastructure development projects. He added that the authorities would create a list of immigrants working on each island and provide that list to the respective local councils.

From here on in, updating the information of foreigners living in the islands are made easy even for island councils, as the database will be shared with them as well, said the Minister.

The MDP-led administration had also suspended the issuance of work permits for unskilled labour from Bangladesh, as part of a comprehensive strategy to combat illegal immigration. However, this policy decision has been reversed by the current administration.

The previous government also initiated a programme to secure legal status for undocumented workers. The legislative cap on the number of migrant workers from a single country, who are permitted to enter and work in the country at any given time, stands at 100,000.

There has been concerns by the opposition and general public accusing the current government for classifying or restricting, or rather destroying the said previous register of undocumented immigrant workers.

Abdulla Didi, who was dismissed from his position as a Judge by the decision of Judicial Service Commission (JSC) following evidence connecting him to a large bribery case, was appointed to the position of legal counsel at a State Ministerial standard.

While he has been appointed to this position, the bribery case against him remains unclosed at the Prosecutor General's office even at present.

A media official of the office shared that a case against Abdulla Didi connected to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) bribery case remains lodged and deliberations are ongoing on whether charges will be enforced.

Investigation into the cases filed against Abdulla Didi at the JSC was begun shortly after the former President, Abdulla Yameen's tenure concluded. Abdulla Didi had also served as Chief Judge at High Court. He was hired at the Supreme Court after two vacancies opened up on the judges' bench following the controversial February 1 verdict by the court mandating the release of imprisoned political leaders during the final year of Yameen's administration.

JSC had submitted an appeal to the parliament to dismiss Abdulla Didi with serious allegation against him. With 72 (out of 87) votes in favor of his dismissal, Didi was dismissed from his position at the JSC, marking this the first instance of a Supreme Court judge laid off by the power of parliament.

He departed to Malaysia soon after police investigations were commenced into his case and remained there until recently. He has returned to the country following the administration change.

The weightiest accusation against Abdulla Didi is that of accepting bribery distributed by the individuals implicated in the case of USD 90 million theft from MMPRC in exchange for altering the verdict. He had denied these allegations, insisting that he had never once committed any criminal activity.