Nexia was hired to develop 20-year plan for MVR 17.9mn

Private consultancy firm Nexia Maldives was hired to provide consultancy services for the 20-year national development plan being formulated by the government for MVR 17.9 million, according to the Finance Ministry.

The Finance Ministry disclosed the value of the contract in response to a query filed by Ahmed Mauroof, an attorney-at-law, under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu had announced his decision to formulate a 20-year national development plan on September 17 last year. He inaugurated the public consultation process for the plan a month later, on November 6.

According to the Finance Ministry, three firms expressed interest in providing consultancy services for the initiative; Nexia, CDE Consulting, and Riyan.

The ministry said that both CDE Consulting and Riyan were ruled out of contention after they both scored below 70 points, with Riyan scoring 54.6 points and CDE scoring 50.6 points.

Meanwhile, Nexia scored 81 points, with 61 points for practical category and 20 for financial category.

The ministry said that Nexia was hired for the project for MVR 17.9 million on June 25.

The 20-year national development plan seeks to guide economic, social, environmental and urban development across the Maldives over the next 20 years.

The Finance Ministry said the plan will be formulated with input from all stakeholders across the Maldives.

Nexia had begun travelling to islands for stakeholder meetings on Saturday.

The firm previously said they plan to wrap up meetings with various stakeholders within four months, and formulate a plan around-mid January

The government aims to finalize the national development plan within one year.