Cash-strapped Maldives has signed a deal with a Dubai-based company to establish an US$8.8 billion investment zone aimed at diversifying the tourism hotspot into a “financial freezone”, the government said on Monday.
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Three residential and office towers, a convention centre and hotels will form part of the Maldives International Financial Centre (MIFC), President Mohamed Muizzu’s office said in a statement.
“It will … position Male as the premier global business and financial hub in the Indian Ocean,” the statement said, adding it would allow the Indian Ocean archipelago to “diversify beyond tourism”.
The US$6.5 billion economy of the Maldives has been facing foreign exchange shortages since the Covid-19 pandemic and has been warned of a potential foreign debt crisis.
The announcement followed an agreement signed late Sunday with MBS Global Investments, a company owned by wealthy Qatari Sheikh Nayef bin Eid Al Thani.
The MIFC zone will have no residency requirements and offer “no corporate tax, tax-free inheritance … and privacy” the statement added.
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