Maldives and Sri Lanka have moved to expand bilateral cooperation across several institutional and social sectors, with seven Memoranda of Understanding exchanged during President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s State Visit to Sri Lanka.
The MoUs were exchanged yesterday at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo in the presence of President Dr Muizzu and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The agreements cover tourism, archiving, teacher training, youth and sports development, counter-terrorism cooperation, defence-related academic collaboration, and health-sector academic cooperation.
The visit comes as both countries seek to deepen long-standing ties shaped by close geographic proximity, people-to-people links, education, travel, trade, and regional security interests. While several of the agreements focus on institutional cooperation, their broader significance lies in creating channels for more structured engagement between government agencies, educational institutions, and professional bodies in both countries.
A tourism cooperation MoU was exchanged between Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs Iruthisham Adam and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha Herath. The agreement is expected to support closer collaboration between two economies where tourism plays a major role, particularly in areas such as promotion, industry exchange, and destination-level cooperation.
The two countries also exchanged an MoU on archiving cooperation between the Department of National Archives of Sri Lanka and the National Archives of the Maldives. This could support knowledge-sharing in records management, preservation, and institutional memory, areas that are increasingly relevant as public institutions modernise their documentation systems.
Education was another key area of cooperation. An MoU on the training and professional development of teachers and school leaders was exchanged between the education ministries of both countries. For the Maldives, where teacher development remains central to improving education outcomes across dispersed island communities, the agreement may provide a platform for technical exchange and capacity-building.
Sports and youth development cooperation was also formalised through an MoU exchanged by Minister Iruthisham Adam and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Sunil Kumara Gamage. The agreement reflects the wider social dimension of the visit, extending cooperation beyond government-to-government diplomacy into youth engagement and human development.
In the security sector, an MoU on defence cooperation between the National Counter Terrorism Centre of the Maldives and Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence was exchanged by Maldives High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Masood Imad and Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retired). The two countries also exchanged an MoU between the Maldives’ Ministry of Defence and National Service and General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.
Academic cooperation in the health sector was also included, through an MoU between the University of Colombo and the Maldives’ Ministry of Health, Family and Welfare. The agreement was exchanged by High Commissioner Masood Imad and University of Colombo Vice Chancellor Professor Indika Mahesh Karunathilake.
President Dr Muizzu is undertaking the State Visit at the invitation of President Dissanayake. The visit is aimed at strengthening economic, cultural and social ties between the Maldives and Sri Lanka, while broadening cooperation across areas of mutual interest.
