Speech by President S R Nathan at the State Banquet in honour of His Excellency Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Republic of Maldives

Your Excellency President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
Madam Nasreena Gayoom
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

     It is with great pleasure that my wife and I extend our warmest welcome to Your Excellency and Madam Nasreena Gayoom and members of your delegation on your State Visit to Singapore.

     Singapore and Maldives enjoy longstanding and excellent relations.  Singapore became independent just two weeks after Maldives gained its independence 41 years ago.  Your Excellency may recall staying at the Istana during your first State Visit to Singapore in 1981.  Since then, we have had many occasions to receive you, Mr President, and your officials on visits that have consolidated our ties and our friendship.  Your latest visit therefore gives us an added opportunity to strengthen our ties and deepen our relations.

     Since those early days of nationhood, our bilateral relationship has grown from strength to strength.  Singapore’s investments in Maldives have nearly doubled from the year 2000 to 2004.  Singapore is also Maldives’ largest import partner.  Singapore Airlines is one of the few airlines that has daily flights to and from Maldives.

     Our close links and friendship were why we, as a fellow small island state, did not just stand by when Maldives was devastated by the tsunami that struck on Boxing Day of 2004.  While it was fortunate that Maldives was spared the worst devastation that the waves caused in other countries affected by the tsunami, it nevertheless must have been a horrifying experience to the people of your country when the tsunami submerged several islands, destroyed homes and displaced nearly one third of the population.  The damage was not only to critical infrastructure but it also rendered unpotable your fresh water sources.  The impact on the tourism and fishing industries, on which the livelihood of many Maldivians depend, was significant.

     It is with a measure of pride that I say that many Singaporeans, who were so moved by the plight of your tsunami victims, spontaneously came forward to help.  Two months after the tsunami struck, our Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, visited Maldives to hand over a water desalination plant on Gan Island in Laamu Atoll to help provide a sustainable supply of drinking water to the people living there.  Singapore companies operating in Maldives also extended a helping hand.  The Four Seasons initiated the Kuda Huraa Tsunami Relief Fund and deployed its luxury catamaran to assist Maldives’ National Security Force to transport aid to the hardest hit outlying islands.  The Banyan Tree Group also entered into partnership with the United Nations Development Programme to rebuild 77 houses on Naalaafushi Island and established a Tsunami Recovery Fund.

     As part of our reconstruction contribution, the Singapore government had pledged to build a water distribution network on Gan Island and an integrated primary and secondary school on Hulhumale Island.  I am pleased to see that the water distribution network for the desalination plant on Gan Island has been successfully completed.  Just a month ago, Singapore’s High Commissioner Dr Chua Yong Hai visited Gan Island for the official handover ceremony.  Fresh water now flows directly into the taps at Gan Regional Hospital and a school, as well as a community tap area near the village in Gan.  Working with the Singapore Red Cross Society, the integrated primary and secondary school on Hulhumale Island is also on track for completion later this year.  When opened, the school will accommodate about 1,000 students, and I hear that there is already some excitement over its opening.  Singapore has also trained 28 healthcare workers in disaster management and will train teachers of the school in Hulhumale under the Singapore Cooperation Programme.

     Maldives is very much in the minds of our people.  For many Singaporeans have spent their holidays in the exquisite setting of Maldives’s atolls and beaches, as well as shared the warmth and graciousnesss of the Maldivian people.  We are indeed very pleased to learn that Maldives is recovering well and that the tourists are returning in even greater numbers.  There are few paradises on earth but I am sure that Maldives remains as one of them to many Singaporeans.

Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is now my great pleasure to invite you to join me in a toast:

– To the good health and well-being of His Excellency President Gayoom and Madam Nasreena Gayoom;
– To peace, progress and prosperity for the people of Maldives; and
– To the close friendship between the governments and peoples of Maldives and Singapore.