Singapore

Singapore’s Temasek Foundation has granted $277,395 (MVR 4.2 million) to the Maldivian government for a Capacity Building Programme on Tax and Trade Facilitation.

The programme, initiated by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Maldives, will be conducted with the assistance of the Singapore Corporation Enterprise (SCE). The grant letter was signed by Economic Minister Ahmed Mohamed and the CEO of SCE.

The official ceremony held tonight at Traders Hotel was attended by officials of Temasek Foundation, Economic Ministry, Finance Ministry and Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA).

Economic Minister Ahmed Mohamed said that through the one-year training programme, assistance will be provided to the authority responsible for implementing the tax system in the Maldives, MIRA.

He said that under this programme, information will be shared regarding Singapore’s experience when it introduced taxes such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and about 70 people would be trained to strengthen their expertise in the areas of tax audit and investigation, tax compliance and enforcement, and tax payers support services.

Ahmed Mohamed further said that discussions would be held with government and private sector institutions to identify ways in which conducting business in the Maldives can be made easier, and that information would be given to relevant government institutions on ‘facilitating the provision of the licences and permits required by businesses under one roof’ based on Singapore’s experience. In this regard, training would be provided to thirty employees currently working in this field.

He said that such a system would facilitate reductions in costs and time spent on documentation for businesses.

The Economic Ministry has said that the trainings under the Capacity Building Programme on Tax and Trade Facilitation in the Maldives would be conducted by Singaporean experts, and that the programme would allow Maldivian government officials to establish ties with relevant authorities in Singapore.