Message from the Resident Representative

The Maldives is a beautiful country endowed with a natural environment, comprising about 1,200 islands composed of coral reefs. Drawn by the allure of its natural environment, more than three times as many tourists as the population visit the country each year, and the tourism sector accounts for almost 30% of the country’s GDP. However, the economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism, has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and a very dispersed population in scattered islands has become a bottleneck for the country’s development as a whole. Furthermore, promoting private investment outside the tourism sector is a challenge because of the small-scale economy with a population of approximately 520,000 people (roughly the same as the population of Koto Ward in Tokyo).

Under these circumstances, Dr. Muizzu was sworn in as the new president in November of this year, and his new initiatives are about to get underway for the future growth of the Maldives. Japan has been a longstanding partner in development cooperation with the Maldives since the 1960s, mostly because of the high trust and expectations from the government and the people of the Maldives. In fact, the newly appointed President Muizzu is among the ex-JICA training participants.

The JICA Maldives Office will support the new government in its endeavours to make significant breakthroughs in the issues facing the Maldives, and we will continue to develop and implement various cooperation programmes focusing on the needs of the people of the Maldives.