Maldives to launch $6.5 million loan facility for women entrepreneurs

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu early Monday announced the plan to launch a 6.5 million-dollar loan facility for women entrepreneurs, with 25 percent allocated to women with disabilities.

He made the remarks while speaking at the High-level Closing Ceremony of the SIDS Global Business Network (GBN) Forum 2024, held at Antigua and Barbuda.

In his remarks, the President made three calls for action. Firstly, the President emphasised the need to promote investments in micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and young entrepreneurs. He also stressed the importance of facilitating easier cross-border trade and protecting the intellectual property rights of MSMEs while ensuring a regulatory environment that encourages investment, innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable development.

President Muizzu articulated the need to prioritise inclusivity and empower local communities to enhance connectivity between businesses and governments. He added that this connection can leverage the strengths of both sectors to achieve common goals, from infrastructure development to disaster risk reduction, and is particularly important in SIDS, where islands are dispersed.

The President further urged providing platforms to forge partnerships and share experiences. He emphasised that the biggest challenge SIDS faces is limited or restricted access to affordable financing for development. He noted the difficulties in balancing economic growth and sustainability, hindering the ability to invest due to SIDS' small market, limited creditworthiness, and vulnerability to debt distress.

He also encouraged continuing dialogue between businesses and government agencies to create platforms for engagement to facilitate knowledge sharing and partnership development and increase partnerships. He urged banks, multilateral institutions, and other financial entities to prioritise actions that make finance more accessible, affordable, and tailored to the needs of the private sector.

Concluding the speech, the President emphasised that the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS can only be achieved when the governments of SIDS partner with the private sector and prioritise the private sector in efforts to realise resilient and inclusive prosperity for all.