Ambassador Patricia Butenis' Remarks to the Maldivian Press following her Presentation of Credentials

October 1, 2009 | Malé, Maldives

Ambassador Butenis:  Good morning.  I have a statement I would like to read, and then will take a couple of questions.  I want to thank President Nasheed for receiving me today and allowing me to present my credentials from President Barack Obama.  It was a pleasure to do so.  I am very deeply honored to serve as Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Maldives.   

The United States and the Maldives are very strong partners, and I am committed personally to continuing and expanding our relationship that spans across a wide range of issues.  For example, in the area of trade, a delegation from the office of the United States Trade Representative will visit the Maldives later this month.  The team will seek opportunities to expand trade and investment between our two countries.  The team will not only meet with government officials, but also with private sector representatives here.   

In environmental issues, President Nasheed has brought to the world's attention the effects that climate change will have on the Maldives if the world doesn't act now.  In heeding this warning, the United States is working both domestically and internationally to be a leader in addressing global warming, and I will explore ways that the United States can directly assist the Maldives confronting the challenges of climate change that this country faces so crucially and so immediately. 

In security matters, both of our countries share the goal of a safe and secure Indian Ocean.  The United States will continue to provide training and other technical assistance to help the Maldivian Defense Forces ensure that Maldivian waters are not used for illicit activity.  In the area of counter-narcotics, my country will work with the Maldivian Government and with civil society to help address the growing problem of drug abuse, of how to treat addicts and how to make recovering addicts productive and active members of society.   At the same time, we will work with Maldivian security forces to enhance the interdiction of deadly narcotics and develop tools to prosecute narco-traffickers. 

I had an excellent session with President Nasheed after I presented my credentials.  He has suggested that I meet later this afternoon with several of his ministers for a working-level meeting to review what our different areas of cooperation are now and how we can better partner with the Maldives in areas where they could use additional support. 

Let me just close by noting that the Republic of Maldives is leading the world in addressing the urgent global problem of climate change, and the United States is proud to partner with the Maldives in this effort.  I look forward to working with President Nasheed, his Government and civil society in this and other areas of shared interest.  I also look forward to frequent visits to the Maldives.  This is my first visit here and I'm almost ready just to stay.  Thank you.  A couple of questions if you'd like.

Q. What do you think are the main areas in which the public will benefit from America?  We understand that a trade delegation is coming, but what I mean is health sector-wise, educational sector-wise, how will the public sector benefit? 

Ambassador Butenis:  Let me point out that with additional and increased trade and investment, one of the results of that is additional employment opportunities.  So I wouldn't discount the impact of an expanding trade and investment relationship on the general public.  I think down the road with more jobs, more investment, and more opportunities for the people of the Maldives, that certainly benefits everybody, not just the business sector.  I did mention our work in countering narcotics abuse.  We have right now several programs that work with recovering addicts and also on public education.  Again, they are targeted at the average citizen.  This is not something that is directed at a particularly elite society.  We are doing that.  We are ready to explore other areas of cooperation in education.  We send officials and scholars to the U.S. for programs.  We have Fulbright scholars coming here.  That is also an additional benefit. 

I understand what you're saying; there's a whole range of needs that the citizens of the Maldives face, and probably most discussions of foreign assistance seem very remote from the reality that the average citizen faces.  But let me assure you, all of our assistance is targeted to day-to-day activities and day-to-day support of individuals.  But again, this afternoon we will meet again with senior government officials and will ask them, "What would you like us to do?"  Thank you.

Q. What are the U.S. plans to help the Maldives' economy?

Ambassador Butenis:  I understand the budget difficulties that the Maldivian economy is facing and the Government is facing.  The Maldives has received support from the IMF, of which we are a member; the World Bank - to which we contribute - has been engaged in discussions with the Government.  Our support is there.  It may not always be obvious, but we certainly support the Maldives directly with their economy through multilateral institutions.  Bilaterally we are exploring more specifically targeted programs.  For instance, tax reform or revenue enhancement - those kinds of issues where perhaps the Government needs what we call capacity building.  You may not have the expertise in the Government right now to reform the system, to make changes, to bring in additional investment, or even to effectively use foreign assistance, and we can provide that kind of training and technical assistance.  It's hard to be more specific than that.  Again, the purpose of our meeting this afternoon will be to try to address those specific requirements.  But we're certainly open to a full range of proposals. 

I must compliment this Government for its energy, its willingness to reach out to the Maldives' many friends internationally and say, "Here is how you can support us" and "Here is how you can partner with us."  I'm seeing a tremendous response in my country, frankly, and in other countries as well.  So I think if I come back in maybe four months I may have a more detailed response, but for right now I think that will give you an idea about how we plan to support this government.  

I'd like to welcome you to the Maldives first.  You mentioned security in Maldives' waters, could you elaborate on that?  And for your first day here, what do you plan to do other than meet with government officials?

Ambassador Butenis:  Let me take the easy question first.  Unfortunately I'm only here for the one day.  I got here this morning and we will be going back tomorrow morning.  I came to present credentials, which is a normal diplomatic protocol:  I am now formally U.S. Ambassador to the Maldives.  I'm also hosting a lunch this afternoon with members of civil society and NGOs, including one guest we're planning to send on one of our exchange programs to the United States.  I'm definitely looking to meet people beyond the government.  It's just that given my limited time we had to focus the meetings.  But again, let me point out that it's not only the U.S. Ambassador who comes to the Maldives.  I asked my staff to tell me how frequently different members of the Embassy visit.  We must do over a hundred visits a year - it's probably more.  We have our Defense Attaché coming for his meetings, we have our Cultural and Public Affairs Officers coming for programs, we have our Political section coming, we have our Consular officers coming to talk about immigration possibilities, and things like that.  There's a wide range of exchange that doesn't get into the papers.  But it's there. 

In fact, I would very much hope that during my time as Ambassador we would be able to increase our official presence here.  I'm not talking about actually building an embassy here, but establishing some kind of permanent liaison because there is so much activity going on that we would benefit by having some kind of presence here.  So that's something I hope to do.

To get back to your question about security, we have an excellent partnership with the Maldivian National Defense Forces and with the Maldivian Police Services, and all of this activity is geared toward helping maintain the Indian Ocean area as peaceful, stable and secure.  We are responding to the Government's request for assistance.  For instance, we are providing maritime border security equipment to help with immigration control, to track people - terrorists or criminals - who might be coming in and out, with a database that indicates that these individuals are here.  A lot of countries have very sophisticated tools to enhance security; the Maldives does not yet, and we hope to be able to work with them on that.  I think also the fact that we already have an excellent relationship militarily - one which we hope to improve even more - reflects the Maldives' stature as a new democracy and one that is reaching out to the world for support.  It's in our interests, we feel it is in U.S. national security interests, to have the Maldives and the Indian Ocean area remain peaceful, stable and secure.   

A second question if you don't mind.  Because we have some experience.  During our last president, Gayoom's time, thirty years, all these people came and they always praised the government, ambassadors from America.  But we can see that in 1995 America dropped some assistance from us because they did not handle the labor properly.  Even now we can hear the same from you, that you appreciate the Government.  Of course we appreciate the Government.  Is there any area that you'd like the Government to change?

Ambassador Butenis:  Let me just address the point about the labor.  You lost the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) because you were not members of the ILO, International Labor Organization, and there were some labor rights issues.  The Government has corrected that.  The Maldives has now rejoined the International Labor Organization and I believe there is also legislation in parliament that is either pending or has passed addressing employment rights.  The point is that the Government has addressed two obstacles that existed previously and that prevented the Maldives from benefiting from the Generalized System of Preferences for exports to the United States.  And this is what our Trade and Investment Framework delegation will be talking about, helping the Maldives apply for this GSP which would make your exports cheaper and would again generate employment and added income.

In terms of criticizing the Government.  No, I'm just credentialed and what I have is just a very positive impression of this Government and also the civil society and the Maldivian population in general.  It's not to say that ambassadors don't make observations if there were issues that we felt affected our national interests; or if we felt that our criticism could be helpful, you might be hearing me say something.  But at this point, it's an introductory meeting and it's very encouraging to see the energy and the ideas and the creativity of this government.  It will be up to you, the people of the Maldives, to decide if that produces anything - it's not for me to say that.  But I do want to say that we want to partner with this Government to bring into fruition some of these proposals. 

Thank you very much.