To expand Maldivian tourism, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has today created a government company under the name "Addu Hankede Development Corporation Limited."
The company was created by a decree issued by the President under Article 15 of the Companies Act, to hand over the full responsibility of planning, executing, and managing all aspects of the Addu Hankede project to this company.
The President's Office stated that the main objective of creating Addu Hankede Development Corporation Limited is to develop "Addu Atoll Hankede" as an integrated tourism development model.
In addition, the President's Office said that the company aims to further expand Addu's tourism industry, distribute the benefits obtained from the industry equitably across the entirety of Addu, and increase Addu's participation in this sector.
The President's Office also noted that another purpose of establishing the company is to systematically carry out all necessary tasks to achieve the economic goals set by the government under this project.
During the previous administration, the Maldives Fund Management Corporation (MFMC) had handed over the development of Hankede to China National Electrical Engineering Company. Following the change of government, the current administration re-announced the Hankede development project with fireworks to coincide with the Parliamentary Elections held in April last year, yet physical work has not commenced.
Visiting Addu in November last year to meet with residents, President Muizzu stated that the biggest challenge faced in developing Hankede was that the company contracted by the previous MDP administration could not secure financing, and this government spent a year and a half trying to resolve that issue.
However, since they did not want to delay the project any further, the President stated at the time that the agreement had been terminated, and a Turkish company had expressed interest during the subsequent opportunity opened to submit new proposals.
Although the previous MDP government had decided to secure a USD 142 million loan from a Chinese bank to execute an integrated tourism project in Hankede, this administration has decided to develop Hankede under a halal tourism concept.
