The Mohamed Muizzu administration has proposed, during negotiations of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA), to cut tariffs on 214 items exported to Türkiye.
The Maldivian government began work on a free trade agreement with Turkey last month, having requested the tariff cut at the second bilateral meeting of senior officials, held online, to formulate the agreement.
While the administration has not yet disclosed details of the ‘zero tariff’ exports, Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed said in a post to social media that the meetings discussed ways to facilitate the export and sale of Maldivian products to Turkey.
“The ongoing negotiations on a Preferential Trade Agreement with the Government of Türkiye is to help our exporters get preferential access to Türkiye market with concessional import tariffs & reduced non-tariff barriers,” the minister wrote.
The Turkish administration is seen as one of President Muizzu’s closest allies. Muizzu made his first official visit abroad to Türkiye.
A Turkish company was also contracted to supply military drones to the Maldives, while the President confirmed in January that Türkiye had agreed to export enough staples to the Maldives to reinforce food security, as relations with India had soured at the time.
However, the shipment which was supposed to arrive in February, has not yet reached the Maldives.