South Asian Business news and information

Because of its flourishing tourism sector, Maldives has attracted workers from different countries. The tragedy is that Maldives government did not give much effort to train its own citizens so that they can get work. As a result, the number of expatriate workers has surpassed the expected number. I am quoting from the report published in Minivan News:

The Ministry of Higher Education, Employment and Social Security has released new statistics, which reveal that the number of expatriates working in the Maldives has surpassed the 53,000 mark.

The study shows that the three countries with the most nationals working in the Maldives are: India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka respectively. Over 19,000 workers from India are employed in the Maldives, 18,000 are from Bangladesh and approximately 7,000 come from Sri Lanka.

Data from the study, which has been published on the Ministry’s website, show that the construction industry hires the most expatriates with over 16,000 foreign employees registered as working in the trade.

Tourism is the second highest expatriate worker employing sector. At present, it contains around 10,000 expatriate workers. Another 6000 workers are employed by various business and commercial organizations around the country. The report says that despite government’s announcement that it would increase the number of Maldivian workers in the places of foreign workers, it failed to do so. 

In order to bring in more Maldivians, the Ministry of Employment has started a campaign titled “Yes Campaign” from November of 2006. Under this new campaign, there will be a mobile workshop that would travel around the country to train the citizens.

Because of easy availability, many countries around the world take workers from South Asian countries like Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka. Maldives has done it but now it has reached at a stage that would also affect the local people. The government of Maldives has taken a timely decision to train the Maldivians. It should initiate more workshops like these.

Related article: