Launching the process of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Maldives and United Kingdom is the biggest step taken in recent times towards the elimination of the tariffs imposed on Maldivian fish exports to the UK, economic minister Fayyaz Ismail has said.
“This is the biggest step taken in recent times to find a way to eliminate tariffs on Maldivian fish exports to the UK. This will help develop the Maldives fishing industry and find good value for the fish caught by Maldivian fishermen,” he said in a tweet.
He also said the UK-Maldives FTA would be a key step for the economic future of the Maldives. He thanked the teams from the economic ministry and foreign ministry that participated in the initial discussions with the UK.
The eight-week call for input in preparation to negotiate the FTA was announced on Thursday. It invited businesses, organisations and individuals to help shape the UK’s negotiating aims with the Maldives.
“Maldives is one of the few countries within the Commonwealth that the UK has not pursued a FTA with or offered preferential market access through an existing Trading Scheme framework,” read a press release by the UK’s Department of Business and Trade.
The Maldives government welcomed the announcement in a press release on Thursday afternoon and said the “trade agreement will bolster economic cooperation between the Maldives and UK.”
“Over the past four years, the Government of Maldives has actively pursued negotiations with the United Kingdom, striving to eliminate the existing 20 percent tariff imposed on our fish exports to the UK,” it read.
The President’s Office said a solution will be found to the issue of tariffs imposed on Maldivian fish exports to the UK as a direct result of those negotiations.
