Maldives’ eco-tourism gets an Indian boost

Maldives’ five eco-tourism zones, to be built with grant assistance from India, have been launched. The contract award ceremony was held on Monday as part of Delhi’s neighbourhood first policy.

As the implementing agency for these projects, Addu City Council (Maldives), is responsible for steering the entire project cycle including tendering, tender-evaluation, award of contracts, monitoring and execution of the projects.

Addu is a city in Maldives that consists of the inhabited islands of the southernmost atoll of the archipelago. It is the second largest urban area in Maldives.

The five eco-tourism zones, under this project, will come up in Hithadoo, Maradhoo, Feydhoo, Hulhudhoo & Meedhoo.

These grants are being implemented under the High-Impact Community Development project (HICDP) scheme which involves a total grant assistance of MVR 85 million ($5.5 million) to Maldives.

Currently, there are nine such high-impact projects being implemented under this particular scheme in the Maldives. Of these, contracts have already been awarded for setting up of three fish plants in Addu.

The objectives for implementing these projects are three-fold: i) To develop high-impact assets for the benefit of the local island community ii) To build capacities within the Local Councils that are fully responsible for the projects, right from their commencement to conclusion; iii) To support and strengthen the local economy.

With Monday’s ceremony, India has completed the process of awarding contracts for all HICDP projects being implemented in Addu. HICDPs constitute an important dimension of the dynamic development partnership between India and the Maldives. These projects are driven by the needs of communities on the islands.