Maldives Gov’t To Discuss Tuna Boat Loan Re-Payment With Banksff
8 July 2009
Maldives Source: Isria To ease the difficulties faced by boat owners in repaying the loans they had taken from banks, the cabinet has decided to negotiate with banks on extending the repayment duration from six years to ten years. The cabinet made this decision at today’s cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Vice President Dr Waheed.
The decision was made after discussing the recommendations of the ministerial sub-committee that was appointed to explore the possibility of opening skipjack tuna industry for more investors.
The cabinet also decided to allocate from an ADB facility – which was to be dispersed by the Ministry of Economic Development – to small and medium fisheries businesses.
A further measure decided by the cabinet was to provide training on long-line fishing to local fishermen by overseas experts.
The cabinet also decided to discuss with contracted companies doing skipjack tuna processing to see the possibility of providing more opportunities for small and medium businesses.
The cabinet also discussed the participation of the Maldives in the Protocol on the Preferential Tariff Scheme Agreement for OIC countries. The cabinet decided to seek the approval of the People’s Majlis on this matter.
The agreement provides for tariff reduction from imports among participating countries.
The members of the cabinet highlighted that such an agreement will increase investor confidence in the Maldives.
