About Maldives

The Maldives officially the Republic of Maldives, is an Island Nation consisting of a group of atolls stretching south of India’s Lakshadweep islands between the Minicoy and the Cargoes archipelagoes, and about seven hundred kilometers (435 miles ) south-west of Sri Lanka in the Laccadive Sea of Indian Ocean. The twenty-six atolls of Maldives encompass a territory featuring some 1200 palm-fringed islands shining in turquoise lagoons like a necklace of gems draped across the Equator of which two hundred and fifty islands are inhibited.

Tourism

The development of tourism has fostered the overall growth of the country’s economy. Is has created direct and indirect employment and income generation opportunities in other related industries. The first tourist resorts were opening in 1972 with Bandos island resort and Kurumba Village. Today tourism is the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner, contributing to twenty percent of the GDP. There are eighty-seven tourist resorts in operation. The year 2006 recorded 467,154 tourist arrivals.

Fisheries

For many centuries the Maldivian economy was entirely dependent on fishing and other marine products. Fishing remains the main occupation of the people and the government gives special priority to the development of the fisheries sector. The mechanization of the traditional fishing boat called Dhoni in 1974 was a major milestone in the development of the fisheries industry and the country’s economy in general. A fish canning plat was installed in the island of Felivary in 1977, as a joint venture with a Japanese firm. In 1979, a Fisheries Advisory Board was set up with the mandate of advising the government on policy guidelines for the overall development of the fisheries sector.