Development of 10 resorts designed to give Maldivians the opportunity to directly own shares in the country’s tourism industry is set to begin in November, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu announced on Monday.
Speaking at a press conference at the President’s Office, Muizzu said preparations for the initiative are progressing, with the islands and lagoons to be used for the projects expected to be finalised this week.
The resorts are part of a key presidential pledge aimed at broadening public ownership of the tourism industry, which remains the largest contributor to the Maldivian economy.
Under the proposed model, every Maldivian national identity card holder would be given an opportunity to become a shareholder in the resorts without discrimination. Once the properties begin generating returns, shareholders are expected to receive their payouts directly in US dollars.
Muizzu said the objective is to ensure that the economic benefits generated by tourism are distributed more widely among the population.
The President argued that the industry should not remain concentrated in the hands of a limited number of businesses and individuals, and that ordinary Maldivians should have an opportunity to directly benefit from resort ownership.
The government is currently identifying islands and lagoons in Malé Atoll and other parts of the country for the 10 developments. Muizzu said the selection process is expected to conclude this week, allowing the initial rollout of the projects to begin in November.
The administration is targeting a three-year development period for the resorts.
“As previously announced, we expect to bring these resorts into operation within 36 months, or three years,” Muizzu said.
The President said work on establishing the necessary arrangements is moving quickly, with the broader ambition of creating a model through which Maldivians can hold a direct financial stake in the country’s most important industry.
Tourism has been the backbone of the Maldivian economy for decades, generating the majority of the country’s foreign currency earnings and supporting thousands of jobs directly and indirectly.
However, resort development traditionally requires substantial capital, and ownership of tourism properties has largely remained concentrated among established local businesses, investors and international hospitality companies.
The government’s proposed public ownership model seeks to approach resort development differently by allowing individual Maldivians to participate as shareholders rather than limiting investment opportunities to large investors.
Muizzu has previously promoted the initiative as a means of allowing Maldivians to directly receive a share of the foreign currency generated by the tourism industry.
The proposal also comes as the administration seeks to expand the country’s resort capacity through the development of new islands and lagoons across several atolls.
The Tourism Ministry has recently invited developers for 15 resort projects across six atolls, including opportunities involving islands and lagoons in Haa Alif, Haa Dhaalu, Shaviyani, Noonu, Laamu and Addu.
For the 10 publicly owned resorts, however, several key details have yet to be announced, including the individual locations, investment required for each development, share allocation mechanism, price of shares, financing structure and how returns will ultimately be distributed among shareholders.
Those details are expected to become clearer as the government finalises the locations and prepares to launch the projects in November.
If the administration meets its stated 36-month development target, the initiative would represent one of the country’s most ambitious attempts to expand direct Maldivian ownership in the resort tourism sector.
