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| Friday, 24 December 2004 |
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Hotel and Trade Exhibition: Increased demand for SL expats in the Maldives by Shirajiv Sirimane in Male
The third annual Hotel and Trade Exhibition (MHTE), the largest trade event in the Maldives was held last week with a record number of Sri Lankan participants. The media sponsor for this event was 'Daily News' and the 'Sunday Observer.' The demand for Sri Lankan expatriate workers are increasing in the Maldives said the President of the Maldivian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, (MNCCI) Mohamed Salih. Speaking to the 'Daily News' at the opening ceremony of the MHTE at Dharubaaruge Exhibition and convention Centre, organised by the (MNCCI) he said that the highest expatriate population too is from Sri Lanka. This is because Maldives is geographically close to Sri Lanka and had been maintaining economic and social ties for many decades. He said that 15 years ago most Sri Lankans were working in the labour and less recognised trade. "This trend is no longer evident as Sri Lankans are now engaged in various professions," he said. Vacancies in most of the labour and similar employment are being filled by Bangladesh and Indian nationals. Tourism is the number one foreign exchange earner of Maldives and over 30 percent of Sri Lankans are employed in this sector. "Sri Lankans have a very strong representation and highly paid in the food and beverage sector," he said. He said that the teaching profession is an area where more Lankans are engaged in. "An emerging trend is accounts sector," he said.
Artline Director Fasal Hussain said that the MHTE organised by Artline Design Services Pvt. Ltd, offered a unique window for business transactions, product launches., test marketing and also to find new partners. "It provided an opportunity for participants to display their products and services and also to explore trade and investment initiatives in the business scene," he said. Over 25 percent of the products on display are from Sri Lankan companies while 62 percent is from the Maldives. The other main exhibitors are from Singapore (6 per cent) India (3) Dubai and New Zealand (2 percent each.) Financial Controller, Artline the largest Advertising Agency in Male, Peter Arendtsz, said that the aim of the exhibition was to provide a platform for foreign and local businessmen to interact with each other and to extend business relationships and forge new alliances. "This year we had dedicated two days of the fair only to buyers and the third day for the public," he said. It is expected that over US $ 400 million would be invested in the next two years to construct 11 new resorts and add 1600 beds in the Maldives. This would be an increase of 10 percent in terms of bed capacity and 13 percent in terms of resorts and the exhibition has been timed to coincide to meet this US $ 400 million investment. In addition to the new hotels most of the existing hotels would be refurbished and there is potential in this area as well. "The hotel and resort owners would be upgrading their properties after the season and this exhibition was tailor made to meet their needs," he said.
The Minister of Tourism, Dr. Mustafa Luthfee, who was the Chief Guest, said that MHTE is one of the most important events in the Maldives business calendar. "This exhibition reflects the country's positive trend towards developing business, tourism and commercial concerns," he said. The imports to the Maldives is on the rise with goods worth US $ 390 million imported in 2002 and the following year it increased to 468 million, which is a growth of 20 percent. Singapore is the largest importer to the Maldives with account for 25 percent out of this while Sri Lanka is the second with 14 percent imported from there. India (10 per cent) Malaysia (8 per cent) UAE (8 per cent) and Thailand (5 per cent) are the other largest importers to the Maldives. |
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