Investing in Maldives

Hello Diksha,

Hope you're doing good and sorry about the late reply. I'll try to be concise.

1. Yes Maldivian economy is open for foreign investment, you have to register a foreign investment in the Ministry of Economic Development, Foreign Investment Bureau (FIB), to my knowledge any foreigner interested must apply to incorporate with a business proposal complete with plans, financials, operational details, etc of the business, the FIB will then evaluate and either accept or reject it, if rejected you can ask the reasons to remedy. Once accepted FIB will charge you an incorporation fee (depends on the business details) and they will incorporate the business. Once you get your business registered you can operate the same as local companies with all the same benefits of banking, etc. For more details about registration: www.trade.gov.mv
For taxes, all taxes applicable to local company applies a well. In the Maldives, the taxes are GST (General Goods) , T-GST (Tourism Goods & Services), Income Taxes (which is very new here) along with government fees, annual payments, etc. For all tax-related queries please check: www.mira.gov.mv

2. As the Maldives is globally renowned for tourism that is a hot pick, guesthouses are relatively cheap to invest in capital considering ROI, also most are unaware of these sectors; Logistics, Real-estate and development, Cafes (popular coffee culture), Fisheries, Journalism (to international markets), Business Consultancy, etc.

3. There are many law firms who would be glad to assist but most hide their hidden agenda so you have to be careful and not disperse any financial form in any way until you know everything to the tee. That being said once you get familiar with the laws and regulations it is not a very strict but more relaxed business environment. Most businesses focus short-term and try to make a quick buck. Also, you would find that Maldives society is naively unaware of international trade complications, they just operate pay-and-get system mostly. If you use your strategy wisely there is enormous potential.

4. Depends on the project, for guesthouses of top quality about 12 rooms avg. say around $200K to build from scratch. But if you have good contacts, the good arrangement you can downsize this to around $140K-150K. For most business average start-up capital of $100K - $200K works assuming you're going long-term and you hire around 4 -5 staff for a year, your average revenue would generate around 3 Months from start. But that is an assumption based on most cases, the actual scenario depends on your project.

5. For any business do your research, paperwork. Also visiting the Maldives helps as well to see what you're going against. That being said talk to people and don't give a dime unless you see results. You can talk to FIB or the Ministry of Economic Trade prior to any investment. If you're in the Maldives go and meet them. Also, it's best to hire accountant to do your taxes, you can get one for around $200 per quarter (you pay GST quarterly even if it's NIL, also you can do all this online).

One more thing, with this COVID thing going on people may think it's very bad, yes your right because the Maldives is tourism dependant and we won't get it together if we don't open tourism.  But the good news is Maldives is on top picks for almost all travel polls as the best destination so rebound may be quick meaning tourism investment ROI is relatively higher than most of the world.

Hope this helps. Stay safe.
SM