President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has met with the National Taskforce on Resilience Building and Economic Recovery for their second meeting today to discuss the Government’s plans to reopen the Maldivian borders to tourists.

In light of the Maldives’ continuing successes in bringing COVID-19 under control, and the necessity of reviving the national economy, the President has previously announced that the Government’s plans to reopen borders in July.

Tourism remains the most important economic sector in the Maldives and plans are underway to restart this industry in a safe manner that will not compromise the gains the country has made in the fight against the corona virus. The Ministry of Tourism prepared guidelines relevant to how this can be achieved, which were presented yesterday at the inaugural meeting of the Taskforce.

At the meeting today, the provisions of the guidelines were discussed in greater depth. Members of the three working groups comprising the Taskforce are: the working group on finance, the working group on economic recovery, and the working group on the social sector.

Each gave their input to the President regarding the document’s proposals. Items discussed included ensuring testing-capacity, putting in place precautionary social-distancing and isolation measures at resorts, and general safety measures for both tourists and resort-staff.

The President’s Office said that following the discussions, it was collectively agreed to bring some changes to the document.

A constant theme throughout the meeting was the necessity of ensuring the health, safety and security of visitors, Maldivian citizens, and resident expatriates, as borders are reopened.