These initiatives will reduce costs for businesses, help stabilise market prices, and improve the supply chain reliability for communities and enterprises across the northern atolls.
Ministry of Economic Development and Trade
The Government has inaugurated the expansion of services at Kulhudhuffushi port as of 26 August 2025, marking a key milestone in implementing President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's vision to strengthen economic activity and boost trade in the atoll.
At the ceremony, which was hosted to inaugurate the expansion of services, which was attended by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, the Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Mohamed Saeed, inaugurated some of the key services as agreed under the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Ministry and MPL on 19 May 2025.
The services launched at Kulhudhuffushi Port include the establishment of a bonded zone for the duty-free storage of food staples and other food items, essential goods, a bonded warehouse facility to support northern tourist facilities, the allocation of a dedicated jetty area for domestic vessels to enable more efficient inter-island goods distribution, and a designated storage area for construction materials such as aggregate and sand. These initiatives will reduce costs for businesses, help stabilise market prices, and improve the supply chain reliability for communities and enterprises across the northern atolls.
The Government plans to further expand these facilities by allocating additional land to increase capacity for bonded storage and construction materials, depending on the demand trajectory. Speaking at the event, Minister Saeed highlighted that the inauguration of these key services represents an important step in delivering on the Government’s pledge to boost trade activity.
The minister noted that duty will no longer be levied on goods unloaded at the port of Kulhudhuffishi, noting that the expansion of the port services will facilitate the use of cash flow for other purposes.
The Minister further noted that the facility for safe storage of all essential food items, dry goods, frozen goods, restricted goods, general cargo and bulk cargo has been established in Kulhudhuffushi, and this will be further developed in the future.
In other parts of the world, such concepts are called free zones or duty-free zones. This is a small version of it that has now started in the Maldives. MPL is doing all the work to develop this at a very fast pace.
In addition, the minister said that, unlike before, a separate index has been established Maldives’ only essential and critical consumer goods.
