ADB Loan to Help Boost Inclusive Growth in Maldives
Posted on: Friday, January 16, 2009 ; 03:23 IST
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a US$7.5 million technical assistance loan to the Maldives Islands, in the Indian Ocean, to help strengthen private sector development and promote inclusive growth in one of the fastest growing economies in South Asia.
The loan, for which agreement was signed by representatives of the island government and ADB recently, will be used to develop and expand the Maldives micro-sized, small and medium enterprises (MSME), as well as build capacity to enable and promote public-private partnerships (PPP) for the development of infrastructure. This is the first loan signed and to be executed between the ADB and the new Maldivian government, which came into office in November 2008.
The small island economy in the Indian Ocean, with 321,000 population, has grown at an average rate of 7.9 per cent over the past 15 years, largely driven by tourism, which accounts for one-third of the GDP.
ADB is assisting the Government of Maldives to establish integrated and comprehensive public transport system through the islands of Maldives. The transport network will connect all the inhabited islands a
Male’-based Maldivian Airlines, the national airline of the Maldives, has commenced scheduled flight services to Colombo, the second international destination for the airline after Trivandrum, in south India.
