Ministry of Economic Development has revealed the European Union (EU) has extended grant aid to over 219 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in the Maldives tourism industry. Deputy Minister of Economic Development Hussain Zamir made the statement while speaking at a ceremony held in Thulusdhoo, Kaafu Atoll, to award cheques to the local beneficiaries of the EU Support for a Resilient Recovery of SME Tourism Industry in the Maldives project.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister Zamir said the EU has extended grant aid to over 180 guesthouses, 38 liveaboards, and has provided USD517,000 to guesthouses through the Maldives Fund Management Corporation (MFMC). The minister highlighted the statistics from the Guesthouse Association of Maldives (GAM), which shows 66% of guesthouses were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and lost USD29 million in 2020 alone.
Additionally, Minister Zamir noted the EU has provided USD1 million to the Maldives health sector and European Investment Bank (EIB) has provided a soft loan of USD22 million, out of which USD97,000 was used to improve the direct transfer system. He noted USD700,000 has been allocated for operational training for small businesses.
Also at the ceremony, Head of Delegation of the EU to the Maldives Jenny Correia Nunes said the project aims to provide assistance to tourism-related SMEs in the Maldives to make them more resilient. She assured assistance will be provided in the future as well.
The EU has stated the overall objective of the project is to enable the Maldives to create a more resilient and diversified economy by enabling tourism sector SMEs to recover from the COVID-19 crisis that has resulted in a significant need for financial assistance to kick start operations to coincide with economic recovery efforts.