Maldives to allocate islands for Pakistanis

Maldivian Economic Development Deputy Minister Ali Rasheed Hussain has indicated that his government is willing to allocate dedicated islands for Pakistani investors where they could take all the advantages of the direct foreign investments. He has said that most of the resorts were built by direct foreign investments but pointed out that none of these resorts were owned by Pakistanis. The Maldivian Minister said while talking to a delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) led by its vice president Mohammad Tauseef Zaman in Male.
The delegation visited Maldives as part of an initiative to encourage bilateral dialogue between the two countries. “The Maldivian economy mainly based on tourism which has created tremendous demand for food and construction commodities”, Ali Rasheed added. He stressed upon taking some collective steps to strengthen the trade ties between the two countries. He appreciated the effort done by the delegation and welcomed more businessmen to visit the country as exchange of information was need of the moment.The minister said that 30 percent discount on custom duty would be given to the consignments reaching newly developed port.
He said that Maldives had offered great investment opportunities in tourism and construction industries. “Sri Lankan and Indian investors are taking full advantage of the situation and recently Indians are building the new airport at Maldives”, he added. Tauseef Zaman said that Pakistan was keen to set up joint ventures with Maldives as mutual trade relation between the two countries would bring a positive aspect on the region’s trade.
Zaman vowed to make all his efforts to bring closer the traders and other business entities of the two countries. He said that due to the proximity, India has practiced hegemony over Maldives market, with limited quota system that did not fulfill the demand of the country.
He emphasised on having a direct consignment line from Karachi to Maldives to boost the trade. The other members of the delegation Kashif Malik and Tariq Junaid exchanged their views about their respective fields with the Deputy Minister. Both parties agreed to organise the Single Country Exhibition in Maldives for Pakistan. They also agreed that the issue of direct shipping arrangements would be discussed in upcoming SAARC Summit at Male.