Interview: Maldives hopes to attract more investment from China: senior official

China is a very good development partner to the Maldives and the island nation looks to further promote investment between the two nations, a senior Maldivian official has said.

In an interview with Xinhua on Thursday, Fisheries Minister Mohamed Shainee, recently appointed as co-chair of the government's Economic and Youth Council, said the Maldives has many successful ongoing investment projects with China at provincial and state levels and it hopes to attract more investment in the future.

"I see that China and the Maldives have very good cooperation and we are very appreciative of the fact that the Chinese people have chosen the Maldives as an area of investment. Recently we just started two successful agriculture projects with China," Shainee said.

"We see in the future there will be more investment between the two countries and the government is very open for any foreign investment including with China as China is very open to the Maldives and very close to the Maldives," he added.

Despite the present state of emergency in the country, Shainee said none of the foreign investments or development projects will be affected and the government is committed to strengthening economy.

Maldives President Abdulla Yameen on Wednesday declared a 30-day state of emergency in view of threats to national security and public safety after a recent discovery of firearms and explosives in the capital city.

The government has maintained that according to intelligence reports, there are threats on the life of the president ever since he escaped unhurt in an explosion on the presidential speedboat on Sept. 28 which seriously injured his wife.

However, Shainee said the state of emergency declared is only a precautionary measure in order to catch any perpetrators trying to terrorize the capital city.

"All those who are in Male and know exactly what is happening will know why the President has declared a state of emergency. Like what you have seen days back, there had been an improvised explosive device which was successfully defused by the military and there was another trick played on the forces regarding an explosive device which was also a false alarm," Shainee said.

"So when these things are happening, there is a responsibility on the President that he should take the precaution so that not to limit the human rights or privileges of the public. The only condition is that the authorities can search a suspect without a court warrant," he added.

Shainee further noted that investors and tourists should not fear the present situation as despite the state of emergency, business is as usual in the country.

"All the government officers have been working. I have been in meetings and restaurants with my friends for coffee, so this is just normal. There is nothing to be worried about. The investors or tourists should not worry," he said.

The Maldives government has also vowed to further strengthen its tourism industry which has been the "backbone" of the country's economy and assured that tourists would be safe in islands. Endit