Author: Mohamed Reehaan
The Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s Country Programming Mission (CPM) and the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) 2025-2029 consultation mission to the Maldives commenced earlier on Sunday this week. The CPM is an annual exercise to monitor the implementation of the country program outlined in the ongoing CPS and make midcourse adjustments. The ongoing CPS ends in 2024 and the development of the new CPS 2025-2029 is now underway with in-country consultations with stakeholders. While the consultation mission kicks off in the Maldives, it was reported that the Minister of Finance Dr. Mohamed Shafeeq had convened a crucial meeting with the representatives…
According statistics revealed by the Maldives Immigration, the most number of tourist arrivals in April this year was reported from the United Kingdom (UK). The authority confirms that arrivals from the UK, China, and Russia topped the chart in April; with arrivals from each of these markets exceeding 16,000. Top 10 Arrivals by Nationality – April 2024 UK – 16,888 China – 16,427 Russia – 16,292 Germany – 13,001 Italy – 12,945 India – 7,782 USA – 6,402 France – 6,178 Switzerland – 5,661 Australia – 3,922 Immigration confirms arrival of a total of 168,368 tourists in the month of…
The Ministry of Construction and Infrastructure on Wednesday, inaugurated and participated in a cleaning event at Vilimale’. Commemorating this year’s World Environment Day, the cleaning event at Male’ City’s neighboring village island was organized by Afcons – the contractor handling the development of the Thilamale’ Bridge. The event was inaugurated by the Deputy Minister of the Construction Ministry Hassan Wisaal. At the event, Wisaal was joined by the staff of the Thilamale’ Bridge contractor as well as the bridge project’s consultant Arup, alongside the technical team of the ministry. This year’s World Environment Day is themed “Land restoration, desertification and…
The Foreign Ministers of both the Maldives and Sri Lanka have discussed on engaging in collaborative efforts to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activities in the countries EEZs and beyond. The discussions took place during Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer’s visit to his Sri Lankan counterpart Ali Sabry on Wednesday. In a statement from the Maldives Foreign Affairs Ministry, Minister Zameer said the two countries have talked about taking extra measures against illegal fisheries activities since the Maldives and Sri Lanka are “greatly dependent on fishing”. Zameer also said the Maldives is pleased to offer transfer of knowledge on…
Sun Siyam Vilu Reef on Wednesday, hosted a reef cleaning event to commemorate this year’s World Environment Day. Staff and guests at the property all participated in the cleaning event. Besides the reef cleaning component, Wednesday’s program included a session to raise awareness on environmental conservation, along with a tree-planting initiative that coincided with the government’s nationwide tree planting initiative’s commencement on the same date. Sun Siyam Resorts, a luxury tourist resort operator from the Maldives, is known for their sustainable practices and community-empowerment commitments over the years. This year’s World Environment Day is themed “Land restoration, desertification and drought…
State Electric Company (STELCO) has launched the ambitious task of planting 500,000 trees nationwide, in line with the Maldives President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s pledge to plant 5 million trees nationwide in the next five years. At the inaugural ceremony of the initiative held at K. Thulusdhoo on Wednesday afternoon, STELCO Managing Director Hussain Fahmy highlighted the relation between the utility provider’s services and the environment. He further stressed the initiative was paramount for STELCO due to its environmentally significant outcome, and noted he does not wish for the utility provider’s operations to impede on environmental sustainability efforts and cause further…
Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC/Visit Maldives) has announced that the participation is now open for the upcoming World Travel Market (WTM) London 2024, taking place from November 05 to 07 at ExCel London. MMPRC promises a multifaceted tourism promotion approach at this year’s WTM London event. As such, the tourism board along with interested industry partners will attempt to establish connections with key UK and international travel trade partners. Interested tourism industry companies are requested to apply via MMPRC’s members portal at members.visitmaldives.com before 13:00hrs on Wednesday, June 26. MMPRC further urged interested companies that the membership renewal/registration…
According to the most recent tourist arrival updates posted by the Ministry of Tourism, Chinese arrivals to the Maldives have exceeded 100,000 as of June 03, 2024. The ministry’s most recent statistical update showed a total of 102,075 arrivals from the Chinese market, which is 11.3% of the total arrivals to the Maldives so far. Russia is still second, though no longer in close competition with China, with 91,618 arrivals so far. The UK is at third place with 85,840 arrivals followed by Italy with 75,648 arrivals. Germany remains in fifth with 73,059 arrivals. The annual tourist arrivals to the…
State Trading Organization (STO) has invited its shareholders for an informal meeting scheduled for June 08, 2024 to discuss on the corporation’s business activities and operations. The shareholder engagement meeting has been scheduled for 11:00hrs on Saturday morning at the 4th floor of STO Trade Center. Interested shareholders, wishing to participate at the engagement meeting are required register before 11:00hrs on June 07, 2024 through portal.sto.mv. Proxy submissions for shareholders are not applicable for the meeting since it is informal, STO added. Shareholders who are aged 16 and above before the date of registration for the meeting, can attend the…
Soneva’s Maldivian properties are aiming to generate close to 50% of their energy needs from photovoltaic (PV) sources. The renewable energy capacity at Soneva Fushi max out at 12% of the resort’s energy load currently. The award-winning sustainable resort operator is gearing up to expand the alternative energy infrastructure on the back of a USD 10 million funding from German’s Aareal Bank, provided in December 2022. Soneva expanded renewable energy infrastructure in both the properties, with the installation of a 2.55 MWp (megawatt peak) panels with a 2.7 MWh (megawatt hours) of battery capacity in Soneva Fushi, and a 2.75…