Foreign investments can make Maldives rich: President Waheed

President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has said that foreign investors investing in the Maldives will pay due taxes and that Maldives can become wealthy if it can attract foreign investments.

Answering a question by Sun at a press conference held in Ibrahim Nasir International Airport after his return from an official visit to Qatar, President Waheed said that Maldives can become rich if it can attract foreign investments and that his goal would be to make the country attractive to foreign businesses.

“When we held discussion with the leaders in Qatar, their advice also, was to try and attract as many investments as possible. That it will increase the income. When people invest, those people who come here will also pay taxes, will also do business. This is how. By bringing in more investments, we can make Maldives rich. So we are working towards this end,” President Waheed said.

The President further said that they have signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar to bring in more investments from the country and added that he is hoping for a team of investors from Qatar to visit the country within one month’s time.

The President said that the MoU with Qatar involved investments to develop the tourism and real estate industries. He said that has been assured that Qatar will provide the technical expertise needed to develop the airport as well.

The President continued to say that an agreement was made to grant a lagoon area or an island close to the airport to investors from the Qatar government. He however said that the exact piece of land has not yet been decided.

Speaking of the investments planned by Katara Hospitality, a leading hospitality organisation in Qatar, the president said plans have been made to develop some of the regional airports in Maldives in conjunction with the investments from Katara.

“From the talks we've had, they are ready to develop some of the domestic airports in conjunction with some of their projects in the country. These include extending the runways of some of the existing domestic airports, and to develop domestic airports to include facilities that can land private jets. They have given us an indication that they are ready for these projects,” said the President.

President Waheed said that Qatar is a substantial investor and that their investments in the Maldives would be a good fortune. He said that the Qatar is ready for a wide range of investments in the Maldives.

“They are ready to discuss and implement a wide range of investments. I would say that this is a great fortune, Qatar is a large investor, in all parts of the world,” President Waheed said.