No land in the Ras Male project will be leased on terms that renew automatically, and no land will be transferred into foreign ownership, the government has told parliament.
The Ministry of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development set out its position in a written reply to Galolhu North MP Mohamed Ibrahim. It said all leasing, and the main agreement itself, will follow the Constitution, Maldivian law and regulations.
No land will be agreed on terms where the lease renews automatically.
The terms the ministry set out
The ministry said the state expects a land premium of about 10 percent of the developer’s gross revenue, which it puts at roughly USD 3.1 billion. Of that, USD 500 million has been agreed to be paid in advance for government housing projects.
The government would also receive 4 percent of the market value of every unit sold in Ras Male, and no import duty exemption will be granted for the project.
All financial transactions are to go through banks licensed in the Maldives, which the ministry said would keep the foreign currency within the domestic economy.
Where the project stands
Ras Male is a 500-hectare reclaimed development to be built by the UAE-based Eagle Hills International Properties. The two sides are at the commercial terms stage, a framework agreement intended to lead to negotiation and signing of the full contract.
The ministry said leasing state and reclaimed land for various purposes has long been standard practice under Maldivian law. It said the project falls under the public-private partnership guidelines for privately initiated proposals, which it described as aligned with international best practice.