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38 investments worth US$ 294 mln registered in 2020

The Economic Ministry has stated that the Maldives secured USD 294 million worth Foreign Investment (FDI) during 2020.

Registrar of Companies, Mariyam Visam told AVAS that although most of 2020 was spent in a pandemic situation, the number of investment registrations reflect the interest investors have in the Maldives. Although several investments were registered during 2020, Visam said the practical execution of the investments are likely to commence during the first quarter of 2021.

According to the statistics shared by the Economic Ministry, 33 investments were made in the tourism sector in 2019, while 45 other investments were made in other sectors. The Maldives recorded a total of 78 investments in 2019.

The tourism sector investments added up to USD 817 million while the remaining investments of other sectors was equivalent to USD 2.9 billion. The total investment value in 2019 was USD 3.7 billion.

In comparison, 11 tourism investments and 27 other investments were recorded in 2020. The investment value for the 38 investments amounted to USD 294 million: USD 89 million for tourism sector investments and USD 205 million for other sectors.

Registrar Visam said the tourism investments will likely increase in future with the positive changes recently brought to the Tourism Act.

Maldives is one of the ecountries that receives the most tourism investments from among South Asian countries. The most number of investments were recorded in the Maldives during the administration of former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom. Over 50 resorts were opened in the Maldives during his administration, and most resorts being currently opened were leased during his presidency.

One of the main reasons why investors are attracted to Maldives is the quick return on their investments. Five years ago, the tourism sector investments received returns on the investments within seven years. However, while the number of tourism properties have now increased significantly since then, increasing the competition, it takes around 10 years to receive returns on current investments.