A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
The Ministry of Economic Development has publicised a notice to foreign parties engaging in business projects to comply with applicable government policies. This Ministry states that it has been receiving complaints of foreign parties soliciting and engaging in activities that have not been approved under Law No. 25/79 (Law on Foreign Investment). FDI Policy, enacted […]
A consignment of Oxford-AstraZeneca ‘Covishield’ vaccines manufactured by the Serum Institute in India has been airfreighted to the Maldives under a special grant program between the two countries. The Air India flight carrying the 100,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine landed at Velana International Airport at around 2:42 pm on Wednesday. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih addressed […]
When COVID-19 pandemic had reached the Maldives, it is safe to say, as a collective nation, we were not adequately prepared for it. We had not accounted for enough ventilators and trained health care professionals who had experience dealing with this new virus. The novel coronavirus swept up a storm in the tiny nation when […]
The latest statistics by the Ministry of Tourism reveal that there are 26 airlines currently operating to the Maldives. On Thursday, the Ministry released its Tourism Status Update which outlined the airlines operating to the country as of 6th January 2021. They are: British Airways Edelweiss Air Lufthansa Azur Air Russia Turkish Airlines Qatar Airways […]
What are the exclusions and inclusions in my insurance policy? A broadly asked question in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, as resort owners and investors looked to their insurance policies for any possible compensation. Unfortunately, pandemics are almost always excluded from general insurance covers such as business interruption, and let us face it, Covid-19 […]
For years, human trafficking has been an issue plaguing the Maldives, a country where roughly a third of the resident population are expatriate labourers. Migrant workers in the Maldives face a range of entrenched abuses from employers, including deceptive recruitment practices, wage theft, passport confiscation, unsafe living and working conditions, and excessive work demands. Diplomatic […]
Recently, Maldives’ long-term foreign-currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) was downgraded by Fitch Ratings from ‘B’ to ‘CCC’. This downgrade comes after a previous downgrade in March, from an IDR of ‘B+’ to ‘B’. The downgrade caused disagreement from the Ministry of Finance, and also sparked a heated debate between Members of Parliament on Twitter. Fitch […]
By the year’s end, an additional 11 airlines will be operating in the Maldives, says the Ministry of Tourism. According to the latest information released by the Ministry, after the border closure and reopening in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, Maldives now has 15 airlines operating flights to the country. Within November and December, Maldives […]
Diversity in the workplace is still a rampant issue, especially the lack of women in the labour force. Traditional gender roles dictate that men are the breadwinners of the family unit, while women are typically expected to adhere to domestic or caregiving roles – looking after the children, cooking or cleaning at home. Although this […]