Maldives opens door for agro-export

Direct air connectivity with the Maldives, where a fifth of the population is Bangladeshi, could make the Indian Ocean Island country an agricultural goods export destination for Bangladesh.

The US-Bangla Airlines launched direct flights on Dhaka-Male route on November 19. Earlier, Maldivan airlines, Sri Lankan airlines and Emirates operated transit flights from Bangladesh.

‘‘It is a great opportunity for Bangladesh,’’ Md Rayhan Bhuiyan, owner of Bangladeshi exporter Bhuiyan Enterprise, told The Business Post. “We will export vegetables soon.”

He said Bangladeshis in the Maldives can import vegetables from Bangladesh. “It is more profitable compared to odd jobs,” he said.

In Hulhumale, most Bangladeshis work at grocery shops, malls, hotels, restaurants, guest houses, and tourist boats.

Abdul Hannan, a grocery shopkeeper, said direct air and sea connectivity helped India monopolise the Maldives’ agro product market.

According to the Bangladesh High Commission around 1,00,000 of 5,40,542 people living in the Maldives are Bangladeshis.

Ahmed Mottaki, owner of Mianz Foods, a Hulhumale-based Bangladeshi fish, meat, vegetables, and spices importer, imported goods through transit flights.

“Another major issue is the absence of Bangladeshi bank branches here. Taka cannot be directly converted to Maldivian Rufiyaa. It has to be first converted to dollars and then to Rufiyaa. We lose around Tk 200 during the conversion process per Tk 1,000,” Mottaki told The Business Post.

He urged the government to open a Bangladeshi bank branch to prevent hundi.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Maldives Mohammad Nazmul Hassan said they were trying to have Bangladeshi banks open branches in the island nation.

“Direct flight operations has opened up various possibilities to increase bilateral trade,” he said, adding that sea connectivity would help boost trade and commerce.

In fiscal year 2020-21, Bangladesh exported goods worth $60,18,403 to the Maldives.

Hassan said the Maldives government had said that it would import silt from Bangladesh. But it was not possible due to the lack of direct cargo ship. “We talked to the Bangladesh shipping corporation to take an initiative. At the moment, India is exporting silt through direct cargo ships,” he said.

Last month, Bangladesh and the Maldives agreed to establish a direct shipping line with Chattogram as Male is keen to enhance connectivity and bilateral trade between the two countries.