The Finance Ministry has said the government is seeking funds from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to continue paused resort development projects
Speaking at the Parliament's budget committee on Sunday, Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer said there are 118 islands leased for resort development that remain incomplete and that it is imperative the islands are built soon. The government is in discussion with financial institutions, including the World Bank and the IMF, regarding funds, he said.
'We are working on gathering funds to develop these 118 islands. We recently had discussions with IMF and the World Bank, and they have given us assurance,' Ameer said.
The minister said upon the completion of the new passenger terminal at Maldives' main international airport, Velana International Airport (VIA), the airport would have the capacity to receive an additional three million tourists. Therefore, the government aims to gather funds to develop 20 to 30 resorts during the following year, said Ameer.
Responding to inquiries from committee members, Ameer said the Tourism Ministry had held discussions with those to whom the islands were leased for resort development purposes and reached an agreement with them.
The minister spoke positively about the 'Real Estate Tourism', which will be introduced next year to gather funds. He said there is a high chance that the project will be highly successful and that the Fund Management Corporation was also working on making the project a success.
