MVR 3M on President’s trips to Türkiye and Dubai

The President’s Office has placed the cost of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s first official trips overseas after assuming overseas to MVR 3 million.

President Muizzu announced his decision to disclose the expenses of all official trips undertaken overseas within fifteen days following the conclusion of each visit on December 2^nd.

President Muizzu first traveled to Türkiye on November 27^th at the invitation of the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He then directly traveled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates to attend the Twenty-Eighth Session of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28).

He arrived back in the Maldives after concluding the trip on December 3^rd.

The details of the expenses were disclosed by the President’s Office on Thursday, 11 days after his return.

As per the paper, four tickets from first class, 12 tickets from business class and 12 tickets from economy class were booked for both trips priced at MVR 2.4 million.

The President’s Office said that expenses on accommodation, meals, and domestic transport for the delegation of the president which accompanied him to Türkiye were arranged by the Turkish government, including the trips made between Istanbul and Ankara.

22 individuals included in the trip to Türkiye were given MVR 200,000 as pocket money while MVR 41,548 was given for incidental or work-related expenses. The total of money given to the individuals in this regard was placed at MVR 259,376.

Expenses on accommodation and meals for 10 individuals included in the Dubai trip were arranged by the government of UAE.

Meanwhile, 19 individuals included in the UAE trip were given MVR 182,546 as pocket money, MVR 145,944 for meals and MVR 168,892 for accommodation.

The transport for all individuals cost MVR 75,388 while MVR 26,412 was spent on sim cards.

MVR 155,128 was incurred for the meeting President Muizzu held with locals living in Dubai.

MVR 20,766 was spent on incidental or work-related expenses. Therewith, the expenses of the UAE trip, excluding the air fare, sum up to MVR 775,232.

First Lady Sajidha Mohamed and a high-level Maldivian delegation comprising of senior government officials including some cabinet ministers accompanied the president on these trips.