Financiers sought to develop airport in Vaavu Atoll

Not long after President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said that the next biggest tourism project in Maldives will be carried out in Vaavu Atoll with the atoll linked by air, the government has invited investors to submit proposals to fund the develop of an airport in the atoll.

According to a decree issued by the president on Sunday, the government has decided to develop an airport in Vavu Atoll.

According to the decree, investors interested in funding the project, to be implemented in a government-designated area in the southeast region of the atoll, will have to pay a minimum of $5 million (MVR 76 million).

President Solih announced on July 17 that the next biggest tourism project carried out in Maldives will be in Vaavu Atoll and the project agreement will be signed soon.

Addressing the people of V. Keyodhoo island on a campaign trip, President Solih said that although it is a small atoll, major economic activities are planned.

Preliminary agreements for the project have been signed with a developer, the president said. The project also includes an airport, he added.

According to the Vaavu Atoll Council, the major tourism project involves reclaiming 400 hectares from Fottheyo Falhu lagoon, the biggest lagoon in Maldives, for resort development.