Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail has revealed that over 130 proposals were submitted to the government by parties interested in carrying out non-bidding projects.
Speaking at the signing ceremony held to award Addu City's power project to China's Dong Fang company on Wednesday, Minister Fayyaz said the government has received 137 proposals to carry out projects that do not require bidding.
"We are negotiating 20 of these projects. These include water and sewerage projects as well as power projects and health projects. We have also received proposals for port and bridge projects", said Fayyaz.
Answering a question posed by AVAS, Minister Fayyaz said most proposal were received from Chinese and Indian companies. While proposals were received for renewable energy projects from Scandinavian counties, Dubai and Turkish companies have expressed interest in port and bridge projects, said the Minister.
"I believe companies from these two countries [China and India] are more as there has been more engagement with both the countries by both the current and former administration. Both countries are interested in Maldives", said Fayyaz.
While the former government also awarded projects without bidding, the current administration is following special policies in awarding such projects. The projects are awarded by the Economic Council after reviewing the submitted proposals. The largest project handed under the policy thus far was awarded on Tuesday to a Dutch company to reclaim land in Gulhifalhu for US$ 53 million. The Addu power project was awarded to China's Dong Fang Electric Company for US$ 37.5 million.
Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail
