Did you know? Abu Dhabi holds significantly larger oil reserves than Dubai. Despite 90 percent of the UAE’s oil wealth being concentrated in capital Abu Dhabi, Dubai remains the country’s most developed city and serves as the main hub for business and travel. Looking at other countries, Singapore has limited natural resources and a small land area, yet it is highly developed. In contrast, Malaysia, with a larger land area and natural resources like gas and oil, is less developed than Singapore.
It raises the question: how have Dubai and Singapore achieved such high levels of development despite fewer resources? The answer is simple. These places have been guided by sincere and hardworking leaders who put the interests of their city or country above personal ambition. They carefully envisioned how development could be achieved and followed through with well-thought-out plans. The results, as we see today, have been remarkable.
Most people agree that the Maldives, with a population of fewer than 400,000, is still far from achieving its true development potential. In 2025, Maldives should not be a nation burdened by debt while its citizens lack even the most basic necessities. The citizens should not consider ATMs or outdoor gyms as signs of “development,” as the Maldives has far greater opportunities, with the potential to earn billions of US dollars annually. Why has this potential not been realized? Because there is no clear goal, and its leaders have lacked sincerity.
How to make billions in US dollars?
Tourism, which was introduced to the Maldives during former president Ibrahim Nasir’s administration, thanks to the efforts of several young Maldivians, has proven to be Maldivians’ greatest luck. Tourism alone generates approximately USD 5 billion per year and is the sole reason why Maldivians are living a more comfortable life than the citizens of its neighboring nations. Maldives gained fame as ‘heaven on earth’ through efforts undertaken by successive administrations. However, there remains a need to create more opportunities within the tourism industry, including involving more locals and implementing greater support measures.  
Still, whether for an individual or a nation, relying on a single source of income is never safe. The economy must be diversified. For the Maldives, this means developing industries beyond tourism. This will allow its citizens to become self-reliant. The question then becomes: how can this be accomplished?
Google chose to establish an international submarine cable landing station and network hub in Hithadhoo, Addu City, taking advantage of the Maldives’ strategic geographic position. This facility will be capable of hosting major global submarine cables. This project positions the Maldives to become a key gateway linking Asia, Oceania, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.
This is just one example of how the Maldives can make use of its geographic location. Our nation lies at the heart of one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes, linking the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia to East Africa. Each year, more than 90,000 vessels cross the Indian Ocean, transporting around 10 billion tonnes of cargo and over 36 million barrels of oil every single day.
As major global powers compete to expand their influence over this region, the Maldives can use its strategically important geographic position—both economically and geopolitically—to its own advantage.
Following conversations with experts in the field, it is clear that the Maldives can use its geographical position in many different ways to its advantage. Among the opportunities they highlighted, the most significant was the introduction of bunkering services — a billion-dollar industry.
However, this cannot be implemented merely for namesake or publicity. The current administration commenced bunkering service in an initiative headed by Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed. What has been done so far in this direction amounts to placing a single barge to sell fuel.
On the contrary, bunkering service should have been launched after establishing the necessary infrastructure. That is the only way to compete in the world market.
Ahmed Zuhoor, who served as chairperson of the Economic Council and held ministerial positions in several ministries during former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom’s administration — a period that saw some of the Maldives’ most significant recent development — believes the country can gain substantial benefits from this sector.
Zuhoor, who once worked as a boat crew, explained that on long voyages, vessels must carry large amounts of fuel, which limits the space available for cargo. He added that if the Maldives had well-established facilities to provide fuel, water, and food, ships could travel with just enough fuel to reach the country, freeing up space to carry more cargo — a clear advantage for the vessels.
Zuhoor stated that one of the key reasons bunkering services could thrive in the Maldives is that vessels would naturally want to take advantage of this opportunity.
Ahmed Zuhoor.
According to Zuhoor, if bunkering services had been launched with proper infrastructure, vessels could purchase not only fuel but also other essentials such as food and water. Zuhoor emphasized that this approach would not only boost revenue but also create thousands of jobs within the Maldives.
“If bunkering service is commenced after simultaneously establishing facilities in north and south of Maldives, [Maldives] can generate a billion US dollar. However, this can only be achieved with visionary thinking,” Zuhoor, a certified marine engineer in Australia, who attained higher education in the field of maritime travel in Sweden and Japan, said.
Zuhoor explained that such a target can only be achieved in collaboration with major international companies involved in the business. Citing Korea as a leader in this field, Zuhoor suggested that the Maldives should collaborate with such countries and adapt the service in a way that would bring maximum benefit to the nation.
Many countries around the world have successfully developed bunkering services and are reaping significant benefits from the industry. Notable examples include the UAE, Singapore, and Mauritius. Remarkably, Mauritius — a country similar in size to the Maldives — earns around USD 200 million annually from its bunkering operations.
Mohamed Nasheed, the president of Maldives Association of Yacht Agents (MAYA), believes that what the Maldives needs first and foremost to generate profits from the maritime sector is to develop a high-quality port.
“Millions of tons of meat are getting shipped to the Middle East through Australia, New Zealand and Singapore each year. The Maldives is smack in the middle of these two regions. The Maldives can generate a huge profit just from storing and transiting the shipments that are carried from Australia to the Middle East and vice versa,” said Nasheed.
But developing a good port requires a huge investment and will take years. Nasheed believes that the Maldives should focus on developing other related facilities while the port gets built, such as establishing lay-up zones, where ships can moor until the next consignment.
Nasheed noted that ships need to pay huge fees if they anchor at ports for lay-up. But if the Maldives establishes designated lay-up zones or even one lay-up zone, the country can generate revenue by charging lower fees but to a huge customer base.
Nasheed believes this is something that the Maldives can immediately start at little investment cost.
Nasheed, who has over two decades of experience in the maritime sector, also suggests that the Maldives earn money by offering medical care services to crew.
“The Maldives is surrounded by seawater. This is blue gold. The Maldives can take advantage of its location even with medical care. The MNDF is already very responsive to medical emergency related distress calls at sea. This doesn’t have to be limited to emergency situations, Maldives can also be utilized much better than this as a medical care facility in this vast ocean,” he said.
Ahmed ‘Captain’ Maumoon, the former managing director of MNSL, suggests that establishing designated warehouses to store cargo, can also be a profitable trade for the Maldives. Neighboring India and Sri Lanka already have transshipment warehouses.
“When someone says transit port, we imagine a port with a lot of containers. This is not what our focus should be on. Large companies are looking to distribute goods to Asia. Offering them a good space for warehousing will work. We can even offer this facility to DHL of FedEx. It will be a hit if we can establish a good system for the distribution of goods across Asia here in the Maldives,” he said.
Many other things which can be done
Maldives could open another source of revenue by developing yacht marinas that meet modern standards which can be utilized to offer services such as water and electricity supply, as well as maintenance and renovation work.
Seychelles and Thailand’s Phuket are earning millions of US dollars by developing such marinas. Meanwhile, despite celebrating a tourism industry that has been thriving for over 50 years, the Maldives has yet to take similar steps.
Maldives has the potential to earn substantial revenue by building specialized ports for cruise ships. With wealthy individuals travel between countries on these ships, providing tailored services to such individuals could bring in millions of US dollars. While Maldives lacks resources to provide such services, the fees imposed on inbound cruise ships among other obstacles discourage cruise ships from docking in the Maldives.
Tourists from a cruise ship in Male'. (Sun Photo/Ahmed Afwan)
In the Malé area, a cruise terminal could be established at Hulhumalé or Gulhifalhu in collaboration with an international partner. Such terminals would help attract more cruise ships to the Maldives, making it the final stop on their voyages. Singapore’s Marina Cruise Centre and Dubai’s Mina Rashid Cruise Terminal are examples of how profitable this can be.
Nasheed, the president of MAYA, believes Maldives needs a cruise terminal, transit port and marinas to take the Maldivian economy to the next level.
He believes that based on the natural attributes of the country and its geographic location, these are the areas where the Maldives can take maximum advantage from.
“There is huge demand, being located in the middle of such a vast ocean. The Maldives’ geographic location increases the demand,” he said.
Nasheed said that Maldives is in huge demand among cruise liners and superyachts. But they do not travel to the Maldives because of the lack of a port and lack of availability of other services they need.
The few cruise liners that do travel to the Maldives carry thousands of tourists to the country. These cruise liners anchor off the Maldivian capital, and need to hire ferries so that the tourists can disembark to Male’ or other islands. The capital city does not offer the services they need, and nor does it have a designated area for tourists to disembark from cruise liners. This also creates security concerns.
As a result, many cruise liners choose to travel to countries such as Sri Lanka and India, instead.
This is just the tip of the many initiatives that can be implemented. With thousands of vessels passing through Maldivian waters each year, the country could also tap into the lucrative market of maintenance and repair services for ships in need.
Why has this not been achieved to date?
The development of a transshipment harbor has been talked about in former president Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom’s administration which spanned for 30 long years. Despite having ample time to implement the project, it never came to fruition.
Although the ‘i-Heaven’ project was announced during Yameen’s administration, little tangible progress was made. A major company reportedly proposed to invest in the project, but it intended to monopolize the entire industry in the Maldives.
A head of Yameen administration told Sun that Yameen decided against proceeding with the company because its investment had come with intention to block a competitive market.
Succeeding Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration also pledged to carry forth the project, and also announced similar projects in this trajectory. However, there was no tangible results. While incumbent president Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration has commenced bunkering service, it is only done for namesake only.
These are markets that the Maldives urgently needs to tap into. However, achieving this may not be easy due to geopolitical challenges and intense regional competition, as numerous ports already exist in the surrounding area. They are likely to try to prevent the Maldives from entering the market by any means, in order to stop the country from becoming a competitor.
Maldives, a small nation, has fallen deep into debt. Despite this, majority of the population lacks access to basic services. This is a result of lack of long-term planning and goals. There are still ways Maldives can boost its revenue. Additional industries it can tap into. However, what is needed is a visionary leader.