Maldives Resorts and the Foreign Investment Law – the Connection
The Maldives Foreign Investment Act (FIA) has been in force since 3 December 2024.
In addition to repealing the very old and very outdated law of 1979 on the same subject, the new law provides new rules, requirements, and processes.
We have often believed that the country’s foreign investment law regulates and provides for non-tourism investments. That is incorrect.
Today’s foreign investment law negates the whole idea. It brings tourism and non-tourism properties alike under the parental umbrella of the country’s foreign investment landscape.
In short, if you are interested in acquiring a tourist resort in the Maldives, you would still need to travel through the processes outlined in the FIA: obtaining foreign investment approval, making the mandatory payment, getting a foreign investment license, and signing a foreign investment agreement with the Foreign Investment Unit of the Ministry of Economic Development, Transport and Trade (MED).
As an investor, your relationship with Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MOT) is a different regime – different relationship – governed by the Maldives Tourism Act and many regulations made under or with reference to it.
The FIA regime comes first and runs independent of the MOT and the Maldives Tourism Act.
So, the natural question is what is the rule applicable for all the existing resorts in the country? Well, they too, need to regularize within the new framework.
There is a provision in the FIA on the very specific issue. It is section 40(b) of the FIA.
The section provides a period of 12 months from 3 December 2024 to apply for registration under the FIA. By that rule, the deadline is 2 December 2025.
The MED is to set out the rules governing this process – with a statutory obligation on the ministry’s part to complete the registration / approval process under the law within 6 months of each application.
Also, section 41 of the FIA is clear that in respect of all foreign investment matters, the FIA takes priority over all other legislations in force – with a single exception made for the Special Economic Zones Act.
So, how far are existing resorts compliant with this foreign investment law requirement?
