Minister of Fisheries Agriculture and Ocean Resources Ahmed Shiyam met yesterday with Badhurudheen Hassan, Managing Director of SME Digital, to resolve operational delays and accelerate financial support for local fishers adopting onboard Refrigerated Sea Water (RSW) systems.
The discussions focused on dismantling procedural and digital bottlenecks within the application pipeline. While SME Digital has introduced relaxed lending terms—including trimming the credit history evaluation window from twelve months to just three—applicants continue to face challenges navigating technical documentation and online portal requirements. Minister Shiyam stressed the urgency of reducing internal processing times so vessel upgrades are not stalled during prime fishing windows.
Beyond basic cooling units, the meeting reviewed broader financing options to help vessel operators carry out necessary structural and mechanical retrofits. These include funding structural modifications to hulls to mount heavy refrigeration equipment, acquiring auxiliary generator sets to carry the electrical load of active chillers, and installing deck-mounted modular solar PV systems to cut diesel consumption while running cooling machinery.
The high-level talks coincide with the government scaling up the RSW Loan Scheme into its major third phase. Backed by a USD 9.69 million allocation supported by the Islamic Development Bank and the Lives and Livelihoods Fund, the facility is managed through SME Digital, formerly known as the SME Development Finance Corporation. The program incorporates key concessions to drive adoption, featuring a 35% non-repayable grant under a Shariah-compliant Murabaha structure, zero equity or collateral requirements, and loan amounts ranging between MVR 100,000 and MVR 2,000,000. Facilities carry a six-month grace period and up to ten years for repayment at an annual profit rate of 6%.
Over USD 3.44 million, exceeding MVR 51 million, has already been disbursed to local vessel owners under the initiative. The push directly supports the long-term mandate outlined by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu to transition the Maldivian fishing fleet away from shore-dependent ice supplies toward self-sufficient preservation by outfitting every interested vessel with onboard refrigeration.
