EU Gives €2 Million to Maldives Tourism

Saturday 11th of April 2020

EU Gives €2 Million to Maldives Tourism

European Union provides a grant aid of €3 million ($3.28 million), including €2 million ($2.195 million) to the tourism sector to support the Maldives’ coronavirus prevention and recovery efforts. EU announced on 9th April that while €2 million is allocated to the tourism industry, €1 million is ($1.09 million) to the health sector.

“In these unprecedented times, the EU-Maldives collaborative approach is needed more than ever: it is only together that we can address this global challenge, which was unimaginable only a couple of months ago,” says Denis Chaibi, the EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. “European solidarity are not empty words: it means working jointly so that the health and tourism sectors in the Maldives can benefit from European funding, and that Europeans will be able to come back faster to the Maldives.”

The EU praised the Maldives’ “decisive, transparent and effective reaction” to the Covid-19 outbreak. The country had a total 19 cases, out of which there are no deaths and 13 cases have been declared as recovered.

Foreign minister Abdulla Shahid: EU’s offer of support is a clear demonstration of the reinvigorated bonds of friendship and cooperation between the Maldives and the EU, especially during such extraordinary times as now. I thank the EU for this timely assistance, which would help the Maldives in strengthening its health sector and assist in the economic recovery efforts, in particular, in the tourism related sectors.