Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim arrived in the Maldives on a state visit, having accepted the invitation of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.
President Muizzu himself received the Malaysian PM at Velana International Airport (VIA) upon his arrival.
The two governments held an official welcome ceremony in the Prime Minister’s honor on Monday, after which Anwar and President Muizzu held official talks. The talks focused on strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries.
Besides this, both leaders also witnessed the exchange of several Memoranda of Understanding.
This marks the Malaysian Prime Minister’s maiden visit to the Maldives since assuming office in November 2022.
Who did the Prime Minister bring with him?
The composition of the visiting delegation includes, besides Anwar who holds the finance portfolio in addition to the premiership, his Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Johari Abdul Ghani, his Human Resources Minister, R. Ramanan.
The Malaysian side indicated that the talks will range across trade, investment, education, healthcare, and digital integration, with capacity building, tourism and sustainable development.
What does the trade relationship actually look like?
Malaysia counts the Maldives among its more significant economic partners in South Asia during 2025. Maldives stands as the sixth-largest trading partner to Malaysia in the region, and total bilateral trade reaching the order of RM 790 million (MVR 2.99 billion).
Malaysian exports to the Maldives accounted for very nearly the whole of the RM 790 million bilateral trade, leaving Malaysia with a trade surplus running into the hundreds of millions of ringgit.
In short; Malaysia sells to the Maldives, and the Maldives sells very little back. This matters for the Maldives at a time when the country is experiencing one of its worst instances of dollar shortages and must pay for its imports in foreign currency regardless of where the goods come from.
What has been agreed before?
The Maldivian head of state traveled to Malaysia in 2025 on his first visit there since taking office, and the two leaders witnessed signing of three Memoranda of Understanding and two Exchanges of Notes on that occasion.
The bilateral relationship itself dates back to 1968, making the Malaysia-Maldivian ties 58 years old.