Minister of Tourism Ali Waheed, City Mayors and President of the Kulhudhuffushi Local Council have departed on a visit to India to attend the 5th Global Business Summit.

The Mayors accompanying the Minister of Tourism on this visit include, Male’ City Mayor, Shifa Mohamed, Addu City Mayor, Abdulla Sodiq and Fuvahmulah City Mayor, Abdulla Falaah Shareef.  Additionally, the President of the Kulhudhuffushi Council, Abdul Latheef Hassan has also departed to India tonight.

The 5th Global Business Summit will see the participation of senior officials of a variety of businesses all around the world. The Chief Guest of this year’s Summit will be India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Prior to departing to India, the Minister of Tourism, Ali Waheed, spoke at the press regarding the Summit stating that he will be representing Maldives at a round-table discussion on sustainable tourism practices at the Summit.

He noted that it is one of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s aims to develop tourism in various areas of Maldives as separate destinations. The Minister of Tourism said that it is also the aim of the President to extend tourism from the northern regions to the southern areas of Maldives within the next five years, and to promote and develop tourism further in this country. A s such, Minister Ali Waheed said that he believes that the matter should be approached in a decentralized manner. He said therefore that it is vital that elected officials in different regions of the country are given the opportunity to bring about these changes in the field of this country’s tourism.

Minister Ali Waheed also said that he and the City Mayors from Maldives are planned to meet with the Indian Minister for Tourism during this visit. He added that the purpose of this meeting is to be able to empower the Mayors to put forward their ideas, thoughts and vision into the development of the areas.

All the City Mayors and the President of the Kulhudhuffushi Council have also noted that the Summit will be a very significant event.