Strategic Economic Plan (SEP).

The Strategic Economic Plan is a nation-wide cross-sectoral document aiming at (i) identifying key economic sectors, their respective opportunities and threats as well as their medium term sustainability; (ii) formulating appropriate national policies and strategies towards achieving rapid economic growth; and (iii) identifying potential areas for diversification with linkages to major industry. In preparing the SEP, the constant reference was Vision 2020 to link the proposed development of the various economic sectors in an integrated way to achieve the economic, human resource and technology thrusts set out in the Vision. The recommendations are structured under different clusters by short, medium and long-term time frames to allow policy makers to implement them by stages.
The Policy envisages two main strategic paths for the economic growth of the Maldives. The first one is to incorporate, through this holistic approach, traditional sectors, which need expansion and upgrading, with new economic sectors in an integrated fashion. Existing economic clusters with strong potential for further development to generate more economic benefits and stability are (i) Tourism, diversifying into new tourism products to attract new groups of visitors as well as tourists from other geographical regions; (ii) Fisheries, aiming at diversification into high-value marine products, high-value secondary production to produce high value products for niche markets and new activities; and (iii) Agriculture, upgrading and expanding the sector to attain greater self-sufficiency in essential food supplies and to allow women who are currently not economically active to participate in productive occupations in the agricultural sector. The growth of these traditional clusters will also generate more alternative job opportunities such as aquaculture, marine and agriculture research, diving specialists, resort development and management. The new growth clusters to complement the traditional ones to ensure the sustainability of Maldives’ economy in the long run are (i) Port and Logistic Services (PLS) to establish an inter-region and intra-region transportation system to support the development of core economic clusters in Maldives and to extend the role of the commercial ports; (ii) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector to support the development and upgrading of target economic sectors within the short and medium terms and to develop a strong export-oriented ICT industry, led by indigenous ICT firms in the long term; and (iii) Offshore Banking and Financial Centre (OFC) to provide necessary funding for the development of the Maldives’ economy and to become a leading OFC in Asia in the long term. The second one is to enhance the linkage between the tourism sector and other key economic sectors such as fisheries and diving, food, agriculture and handicraft, so that a larger part of the population can benefit economically from tourism growth.
To make agriculture and fisheries more productive and sustainable, the Government shall undertake a series of actions aimed at developing the sector as follows (i) farming higher-value products to meet tourists needs; (ii) train existing farmers on modern farming techniques; (iii) set up experimental stations to develop and nurture seedlings of suitable crops that would be provided to the respective rural island communities, ensuring afterwards advice and technical assistance to these home-base farmers; (iv) encourage the population to undertake garden farming to farm crops for their own consumption (particularly useful in outer islands where many women are not active economically); (v) facilitate the development of vegetable farms and fruit orchards by identifying suitable islands to be set aside for commercial agriculture of high-value product; (vi) conduct research into new farming methods, i.e. hydroponics, which can be explored on some of the islands that are smaller and less fertile; (vii) initiate the development of poultry rearing as part of the semi-commercial agriculture development; (viii) develop farms for the breeding and exporting of higher value marine products and for continuous research into new high value marine products that have export potential; (ix) support expansion in the outer zone fishery, especially for yellow-fin, replacing the current foreign fishing in this area (i.e. between 75 miles and the outer limits of the EEZ) by domestic fishing; (x) introduce new fishing methods at improving catches and improving the value of landed catch; (xi) fund development activities such as the establishment of experimental farms to identify new breeds of marine products; (xii) increase the value of all marine-related activities by diversification and high-value secondary production so as to generate sustainable productive employment and export earnings. Furthermore, the growth of the fisheries sector is likely to bring about further growth in ancillary economic sectors, in particular building and repairing of fishing vessels and boats.
In order to enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the document aims at a greater commercialization of local products, in the following ways (i) identify the types of commercially viable fisheries that may be sustainably harvested in Maldives, and into possible value-added products for niche markets; (ii) assess and identify new markets for tuna products from Maldives and explore developing a brand for these products, one branding concept would be to profile Maldivian fishing methods as environmentally friendly (e.g. dolphin-safe methods), or adding flavors into canned tuna after studying taste preferences of potential markets, or developing different processing methods; (iii) differentiate Maldives’ exports and create greater awareness among the target customers of the high standard of marine products from Maldives; (iv) help island farms to secure funding, also through micro-credit programs supported by the Government; (v) establish an agency to develop and aggressively market high-value marine products for niche markets through external collaboration and agreements, it also may take on a sole role of promoting the fisheries exports or take on a broader national role of promoting all Maldives’ exports; (vi) set up regional trade/distribution centers on main islands up to facilitate the trading and distribution of agricultural products from the farms, or fisheries products, handcraft and other products; and (vii) prepare and train select fishing communities in breeding high-value aquarium fishes and pearl cultivation.
As for the Governance, the institutions have to support some critical supporting policy areas which will reinforce the overall competitiveness and efficiency of the economy. These areas include (i) human resources development to ensure the availability of a pool of trained Maldivians to undertake skilled jobs, (ii) institutional capacity building to equip government agencies for sectoral development and promotion, and (iii) strengthening international and regional relationships with major trade/investment partners.