President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has announced import duty for some fisheries equipment will be cut off this year. The president made the remarks while delivering the presidential address at the Parliament of Maldives.
Delivering the address, President Solih said the administration will seek solutions for the challenges faced for fishermen. The president acknowledged hardworking fishermen had brought much progress and development to the fisheries sector. He noted the fisheries sector has been unable to fulfill its full potential due to the failure of previous administrations to implement steady policies to further develop the sector.
President Solih underlined much work is needed to develop the fisheries sector. He said as part of the efforts to resolve issues faced by the fisheries sector, the cold storage capacity at Kooddoo will be upgraded from 2,000 to 6,000 tonnes which would enable acquiring and storage of a high amount of fish caught by fishermen. Additionally, the president said further investments will be made this year to upgrade the storage capacity to 4,000 tonnes at Felivaru.
Noting the administration has been addressing several other challenges faced by the fishing community including the ban of trawling, a practice that relied heavily on expatriate labour, the president highlighted import duty will be cut off from vessels, engines, fiber, resin, and other equipment imported for use in the fisheries sector.