In his weekly radio address, President Mohamed Nasheed has said privatisation of Malé International Airport will boost revenue and expand services and facilities at the airport.
On Thursday, Finance Minister Ali Hashim opened bids of the three shortlisted parties, with India’s GMR Infrastructure Limited winning the bid. GMR, which offered US$78 million in upfront, will expand, modernize and operate Malé International Airport for 25 years.
The President said, “The airport requires much improvement, expansion of runway and development of the terminal.”
With privatization, “government would be able to save over US$300 million in investments,” he said.
The government had launched the tender process for the airport in October 2009, with the goals of upgrading and modernising the airport, and to improve efficiency, provide better services, and boost the country’s tourism potential.
Speaking on the tender process, President said the International Financial Corporation, which is a member of the World Bank Group, worked with the government throughout the process. Therefore, the President added that he was “confident the tender process was transparent and ensured there was no room for corruption”.
IFC has experience in attracting private investment for Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia, and national airlines such as Air Vanuatu, Kenya Airways, and Polynesian Airlines.
Besides US$78 million upfront, GMR offered to pay one per cent of the total profit in the first year until 2014 and 10 per cent of the profit from 2015 to 2035. The company also offered to pay 15 percent of fuel trade revenues in the first four years and 27 percent from 2015 to 2035.
The other two shortlisted parties were TAV Airports Holdings Company of Turkey and Unique (Flughafen Zurich AG)-GVK Airport Developers Limited (GVK).
