The Maldives National Association of Construction Industry (MNACI) has stated that the Maldives needs an investment bank for the construction industry.
During the presentation in a session in the Business Conference dubbed “Small and Middle-class Construction Business”, the Vice President of MNACI, Mr Adnan Haleem, stated that there are a lot of issues that need to be resolved in the Maldivian construction industry. He also expressed that all the industries in the Maldives are interconnected with the construction industry.
He further stated that the large majority of the construction firms in the Maldives are small, middle-class businesses and the lack of an open bidding process for the projects concerns him.
He emphasized the importance of an open bidding process, otherwise, the bidders give the projects to familiar people, rather than the highest bidder. Unfamiliar contractors should exist, and some project opportunities are entirely excluded to the mid-range firms.
The Vice President also raised concern over the fact that some projects that are compiled and provisioned often result in failure of the project and failure of reaching the government objectives, adding that he had witnessed metal turn to rust due to incompetence, and several projects going downhill. A lot of high-quality construction firms exist in the Maldives and should receive more opportunities via open bidding.
He also stated that there exists a special policy regarding foreign constructors in the Maldives, however, it has been revised. The policy was made in collaboration with MACI and the government.
The guideline states that the foreign constructors should invest no less than USD 5 million to the Maldives. However, it has now changed to MVR 5 million. There is no reference to the exact time period in which the guideline has changed.