The governments of the Maldives and Japan have exchanged notes to exempt visas for diplomatic and official passport holders for a period of 90 days. This is the first step towards waiving visa requirements for all Maldivians.

The exchange of notes was witnessed by Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa. The agreement was also signed by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel and Ambassador of Japan to the Maldives Takeuchi Midori.

The agreement is part of the Japanese Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS), which provides scholarships to Maldivian students to study in Japan. The grant aid of USD864,000 will provide six more scholarships this year.

The JDS project was implemented in August 2020, with the aim of further promoting human resource development in the Maldives. The project has so far provided scholarships to 24 Maldivian students.