Author: Mohamed Reehaan
The amount of minimum investment in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) under the presidential decree has been set at USD 100 million (MVR 1.5 billion). According to the decree, as published in gazette, there are nine categories of investment currently, which include; Export oriented manufacturing activities Transshipment ports and international logistics, ports, airports, bulk breaking, bunkering, and docking services University, tertiary hospital, specialty hospital, world-class research and development facility World-class information and communication technology International finance services Renewable energy Efforts to introduce technology unavailable in the Maldives Food security Gas exploration work The SEZ Act was passed in 2014 and…
Minister of Tourism Ibrahim Faisal has promised to provide solutions for the issues related to cruise liners. The previous government implemented a new regulation stipulating tax levies per room in cruise liners, which created difficulties in the cruise liner segment of tourism. Maldives Association of Yacht Agents (MAYA) protested against this stating that the decision resulted in cruises opting for other neighboring destinations instead of the island nation. Minister of Tourism via X said that the previous administration’s decision would be rectified to provide a permanent solution. The regulation was implemented earlier in September which demanded a 16% GST per…
Abdulla Nasheed, the Chief Executive Officer of Kaani Hotels has been elected as the President of the second term of the Guesthouse Association Maldives (GAM). The Kaani Hotels honcho was elected as President for the next three years at GAM’s annual general meeting with a vote of 27 out of 29. During the AGM, key leadership positions were filled with Ahmed Waheed from Noo Moo Guesthouse and Abdul Samiu Imad from Gumbar Inn; both elected as Vice Presidents. Ahmed Naseer, the current advisor to the Ministry of Finance was appointed for the Corporate Affairs role. He is acknowledged as the…
The Maldives government has decided against renewing the Hydrography agreement made with the Indian government. The state’s decision was announced by the Under Secretary of Public Policy of the President’s Office Mohamed Firzul on last Thursday, December 14. At the press conference held Thursday to extend the progress report of the current administration’s efforts, especially the progress of the objectives under President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s “Week-14” roadmap for the first 100-day of his presidency, Firzul said the decision is aligned with the current government’s pledge to terminate all agreements with foreign parties made in detriment to the national security of…
The Minister of Housing, Land and Urban Development Dr. Ali Haidar Ahmed said on Wednesday, December 13, that the current administration’s goal is to provide housing for all residents living in Male’ region in the next five years. While speaking at the ceremony held to showcase model apartments of the ‘Amaan Dhoadhi’ project by Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation (FDC), Haidar said the project will help curtail the housing predicament faced by Male’ region residents. He also said that while 4,000 people will receive apartments as part of the social housing scheme launched by the previous administration, new housing projects are in…
Dr. Shah Abdulla Mahir has been appointed as the new Deputy CEO of Dharumavantha Hospital. Maldives President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu appointed Dr. Shah to the post on Thursday, December 14. Previously, Dr. Shah has been the former Minister of State for Health during the preceding government, and resigned from his post later to join the opposition party The Democrats. Dr. Shah earned is MBBS in 2002 and MSc in Surgical Sciences with Orthopedics in 2006 from the Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine in London, UK. Additionally, he holds a license from the General Medical Council in England as…
Two new food outlets have been added to the line-up of franchised eateries and cafeteria at the Velana International Airport (VIA). Grape Expectations Private Limited and global restauranteur HMSHost opened their outlets at the international departure terminal. Grape Expectation’s ‘The Grape’ is the company’s first food outlet in the Maldives, to be opened in the Maldives, while HMSHost opened an outlet operated by KFC, Costa Coffee and Grab and Fly. The two companies have been managing restaurants at VIA since 2018. Managing Director of the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) Ibrahim Shareef inaugurated the two new outlets alongside the Managing…
The Maldives Parliament has passed an MVR 49.8 billion (USD 3.2 billion) state budget for the upcoming 2024. The budget was approved at Wednesday’s sitting, December 13 with 65 votes in favor. The government earlier proposed an MVR 49.5 billion, which was assessed by the Budget Review Committee. The committee made revisions to it by removing the Fushidhiggaru reclamation project with a budgeted allocation of MVR 400 million, and redistributing the allocation to other ongoing initiatives and the Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP). As such, the Budget Review Committee allocated MVR 200 million from the MVR 400 million for Fushidhiggaru…
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has announced it will extending a disbursement of USD 300,000 to the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) towards paying the salaries of the FAM staff. FIFA has strictly conditioned FAM that its disbursements should only be made to pay the remuneration of the employees. Out of the total amount pledged by FIFA, the federation has already deposited USD 100,000 to FAM’s account for the conditioned purpose. The newly appointed General Secretary of FAM Mohamed Jaushan Shareef said that FIFA’s payment would be deposited in three stages. He confirmed the first disbursement has been…
Aasandha Company’s Managing Director Aminath Zeeniya has revealed that 56% of the Aasandha budget allocated by the Maldives government is spent on local pharmacies. The new MD of Aasandha, while speaking at the SOE Committee of the Parliament on Tuesday, December 12, said that the largest portion of Aasandha budget was spent on pharmaceuticals. She further said that the currently active bulk procurement policy would offset the state’s expenditure made on purchasing medicine. Zeeniya also revealed 11 of the most in-demand medicine are brought under the said bulk procurement policy right now. Aasandha held discussions with the World Health Organization…