Mustafa Abdel Azim (Dubai)
In conjunction with its celebration of the National Day at Expo 2020 Dubai, the Republic of the Maldives boasted of its tourism brilliance and its promising economy, in front of the participants in this huge global event, through which it seeks to strengthen its position on the map of foreign investment by introducing its diverse components, multiple opportunities and an attractive investment environment for investors from all over the scientist.
During the investment forum organized by the Maldives yesterday, as part of a busy program of conferences on the sidelines of its participation in Expo 2020 Dubai, and in the presence of His Excellency Ibrahim Mohamed Saleh, President of the Maldives, a large number of ministers and officials from the Maldivian government, and a wide crowd of investors from the UAE and Expo participants, the Maldives revealed New initiatives that it is implementing to enhance its investment attractiveness, and announcing the offering of tourist islands for investment and full ownership of foreign investors for a period of up to 99 years, as well as its plans to grant additional incentives to investors, including tax exemptions or customs reductions, to encourage investment in a number of new sectors, most notably sustainable energy.
In parallel with improving the legislative and legal infrastructure to enhance its investment attractiveness, the Maldives is also working on developing and improving its infrastructure as well, to accommodate future ambitions, accelerated economic growth and the huge tourist flows expected in the coming years, which will witness a doubling of the number of tourists from 1.5 million currently to 3 million tourists within a short period. .
The UAE is a pivotal market
Expo 2020 Dubai is a great platform to introduce the Maldives in terms of tourism, investment and culture. According to ministers and officials in the Maldives, the United Arab Emirates constitutes a pivotal center for promoting the economic launch of the Maldives, thanks to the strong political relations between the two countries, which in turn is reflected in the strength of economic, trade and investment relations, which in turn is witnessing growth big.
Tourist movement
The Maldives aspires to double the tourist movement from 11,300 tourists from the UAE currently, or 1.3% of the total tourists, to 30,000 tourists next year, by taking advantage of the strong air link between the two countries with the UAE carriers operating a large number of flights, including Emirates Airlines, which It contributes significantly to supporting tourism growth in the country, with the transfer of about 170,000 tourists through its network to the Maldives during the current year alone.
acceleration of economic growth
Fayadh Ismail, Minister of Economic Development, said during the forum that the accelerating economic growth achieved by the Maldives, which averaged about 6% during the past six years, was supported by open policies and continuous improvements in the legislative, legal, economic and investment environment, which in turn contributed to facilitating doing business. business and attract foreign investment.
Maldives Window Expo
He added that Expo 2020 Dubai constitutes a great opportunity for the Maldives to share its success story with the world, as well as to promote it as a promising investment destination, with diverse ingredients and a transparent and appropriate investment climate that offers many investment incentives and benefits, noting that his country plans to launch a new mechanism to encourage investors in specific sectors. , including renewable energy, such as granting investors tax and customs exemptions. Ismail explained that the Maldives Investment Forum at Expo 2020 Dubai comes within a package of events and forums that the Maldives plans to organize during the Expo period, which also includes the Tourism Investment Forum in January and the Real Estate Investment Forum in February.
investment opportunities
Ismail pointed to the strength of the economic relations between the Maldives and the UAE, which comes among the largest investors from the Middle East in many sectors, most notably tourism and transport, pointing to his country’s aspiration to increase the flows of Emirati investments to the Maldives during the coming period.
He explained that the Maldives offers many investment opportunities in the sectors of tourism, transport, ports, infrastructure and logistics, as well as agriculture and food industries, and green investment in the renewable energy sectors.
The minister referred to some of the main development projects that the state is currently implementing, including the expansion and development of the international airport, and the relocation of the country’s main commercial port in the capital, “Male”, which will facilitate the growth of trade volume and the rapid growth witnessed by the tourism, business and trade sectors in the country.
upgrading the infrastructure
In turn, Mohamed Aslam, Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, pointed to his country’s current efforts to develop and modernize infrastructure, which plays a pivotal role in enhancing the country’s attractiveness for investment and tourism, explaining that the Maldives is witnessing a stage of development, and is classified among middle-income countries, and is booming in business and diversity. Which requires a supportive and advanced infrastructure, so we are working to improve, develop and expand the international airport to accommodate the increase in tourist traffic, which is expected to reach 3 million tourists in a short period, compared to 1.5 million tourists currently.
tourism investment
For his part, Abdullah Masum, Minister of Tourism in the Maldives, said that opening foreign investment in the private islands or the so-called “dream islands” in the Maldives for the first time constitutes an important shift in the direction of attracting foreign investments, pointing to the availability of leasing the islands to investors for a period of 99 years. Noting that the return on investment in the Maldives ranges between 5 to 8%.
With regard to the number of tourists coming from the UAE to the Maldives, Masum indicated that the UAE constitutes an important market for tourism in the Maldives, which this year received about 11,300 tourists from the Emirates, equivalent to about 1.3% of the total tourists, expecting that number to double to reach 30 thousand tourists over the next year.
He pointed to the large number of flights operated by Emirati carriers to his country, pointing out that Emirates Airlines alone has transported more than 170,000 tourists to the Maldives, out of a total of about one million tourists received by the Maldives since the beginning of the year, pointing out that the Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with Emirates Airlines to enhance its role. transporting more tourists.
Tourist diversity
The Minister pointed to the current expansionist trend in the tourism sector in the Maldives, which not only takes into account the preservation of the charming beauty and sensitive natural environment in the Maldives, but also takes into account the diversity in what the tourism industry offers in the country of broader and richer experiences for visitors, which also includes A wide range of experiences in addition to the richness of the culture and heritage of the Maldives.
The Minister stressed the government’s aspiration to consolidate the position of the Maldives as a destination for organizing corporate conferences, and stated that there is a huge potential to include tourism activities within the activities that the Maldives provides to its visitors, such as cruise tourism, health and wellness tourism, and water tourism.
The Maldives Investment Forum aims to encourage foreign direct investment in the country, as well as highlight the enormous potential that the Maldives enjoys as an attractive destination for the international investment community. A number of dignitaries from the UAE Chambers of Commerce attended the forum’s activities, as were participants from the private sector in the Maldives, the UAE and the region.
Maldives President: The UAE has opened the doors to the world
His Excellency Ibrahim Mohamed Saleh, President of the Maldives, praised the successful hosting of Expo 2020 Dubai, and its efforts to reopen the doors to the world to meet again in one place, noting that the Emirate of Dubai has proven to be the best place in the world to organize this for an event of this size, thanks to the vision of its wise leadership. and its flexible economy and innovation in the sectors of finance, architecture and trade.
During his speech at the Maldives Investment Forum, held in conjunction with the celebration of his country’s National Day, as part of Expo 2020 Dubai activities, Saleh stressed that the Maldives is witnessing a new wave of growth, in light of the remarkable recovery that the economy is currently achieving from the economic repercussions resulting from the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. He added, “The Maldives is adopting an ambitious roadmap to revive the economy after the pandemic, and we are working to promote economic growth by diversifying sectors and achieving environmental sustainability for the prosperity of society. These themes are in line with the main themes of Expo 2020 represented in sustainability, mobility and opportunities to create a better future.”
He said: “The current strategy focuses on promoting innovation, enabling digital transformation, and accelerating public services based on the interest of society, pointing out that 60% of the population is vaccinated, while the vaccination rate among workers in resorts and hotels has reached 93%, noting that significant improvements have been made in Legislative and legal frameworks through a series of policy reforms aimed at facilitating the attraction of new investments in infrastructure, transport, services and energy. He added, “The reforms include strengthening the role of the private sector, eliminating bureaucracy and obstacles, facilitating business establishment procedures, providing access to financing, while ensuring transparency, flexibility and safety for investors.”
In his speech, Saleh invited investors to join the transformational journey that the Maldives is going through, noting that his government attaches special importance to encouraging the use of renewable energy resources and achieving low-carbon development, as part of its plans to achieve its goal of reducing carbon emissions harmful to the environment to zero by 2030.
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