The Maldives government leased a land plot in reclaimed suburb Hulhumale’s industrial zone to the Ministry of Economic Development for the use of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME).
Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed and Housing Development Corporation (HDC)’s Managing Director Mohamed Saiman signed the lease of land agreement at a ceremony held in the Economic Ministry on Tuesday.
Minister Saeed told reporters afterwards that the government will commence development of an industrial park with aid from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the SME land plot, which measures 5,000 square feet. The state also plans to develop a kitchen facility in the plot to produce food and five other types of products for the Maldivian market.
“There will be offices for new entrepreneurs along with a kitchen facility to create local products. Thus, production and marketing can be done in one place,” said the minister.
According to Minister Saeed, the first phase of developing the SME building will see the production of soft toys. He disclosed that research is also being done for the preparation of coconut products and common salt.
“Even at the Kunming Fair [in China], the products that received the most support apart from fish products were coconut oil products. We learned there is a huge market for it. We’re looking into whether we can acquire the amount of materials required for wide scale production.”
Meanwhile, HDC’s MD Saiman stated that development of various specialised sectors are already underway in 99 out of 150 land plots leased in Hulhumale’s industrial zone. He added that services have commenced in 54 of the plots over the past two years.
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