Vice President Abdulla Jihad launched the Maldives Investment Forum 2016 during the inauguration ceremony held at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi this morning.
During his keynote address the Vice President celebrated Maldives’ entrepreneurial spirit. “Maldives was one of the poorest island economies in the 1970s with a GDP per capita of less than 275 US dollars. However, thanks to the innovative thinking and foresight of the successive Governments as well as the entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector, the GDP per capita of the country now exceeds over 7000 US dollars.”, he said.
The Vice President lauded President Yameen’s transformational economic agenda, highlighting that foreign direct investment was one of its fundamental driving forces – he also briefly highlighted some of the President's initiatives including the focus on narrowing the fiscal deficit, economic diversification through substantial infrastructure scale ups and creating more opportunity for Maldives and its people.
Emphasising the Maldives’ growth potential, the Vice President said the Government believed the economic gains from the investment scale up would be substantial, especially with the expansion of the airport opening up the Maldives to over 7 million visitors per year.
The Vice President also highlighted that Moody’s Investors Service had, for the first time ever, rated the Maldives; giving it a highly positive outlook – he assured the audience that “Maldives is open for business” and that potential investors could look forward to a rewarding experience in the setup and operation of their ventures in the Maldives.
Minister of Economic Development Honourable Mohamed Saeed, the Maldives’ Ambassador to India His Excellency Ahmed Mohamed, representatives of the Indian government and India’s business community also addressed the inauguration.
