Discussions have been held on how the Bank of Maldives (BML) can issue loans to fishermen through the National Fishermen's Registry.
Fisheries Minister Ahmed Shiyam, BML CEO Mohamed Shareef, and several senior officials from both the ministry and BML participated in this consultative meeting held at the Fisheries Ministry yesterday.
The meeting primarily focused on how fishermen included in the National Fishermen's Registry can apply for loans and other financing products issued by BML. They also discussed establishing an arrangement to "verify" fishermen through the registry when they apply for loans. However, the Fisheries Ministry has not disclosed any decisions made during this meeting.
The Fisheries Ministry has previously held a series of meetings with BML to identify ways to issue loans through BML to fishermen registered in the National Fishermen's Registry.
Establishing the National Fishermen's Registry with the aim of making fishermen a state-recognized group is a presidential pledge of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu. To implement this pledge to its fullest extent, the Keyolhu mobile application was introduced on February 16, 2024, opening the opportunity for registration. To date, 95% of fishing vessels have been registered in the registry.
To make the fishermen's registry a legally recognized platform, a regulation to regulate the registry was formulated and published in the government gazette in December last year. Regarding the registry, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has stated that since fishermen do not receive the opportunities provided by banks to people in other professions, and because there was no opportunity for fishermen to declare their income as a profession and benefit from it, he wanted to establish a fishermen's registry, make it a legally empowered registry, and facilitate opportunities for registered fishermen to obtain loans and facilities from banks. He also gave assurances that with the implementation of the registry's regulation, fishermen would receive the opportunities available to people in other professions from BML, MIB, and STO. Most recently, in his presidential address to the Parliament this year, he assured that the government would arrange for fishermen to apply for BML's easy loans and STO's credit scheme before the end of this year.
This government's aim is to diversify the fishing industry and advance it through systemic strengthening. In this regard, in addition to establishing the National Fishermen's Registry, efforts include issuing collateral-free loans to install RSW systems on fishing vessels and conducting rescue diver programs for crew members working on vessels. Furthermore, arrangements have been made to pay fishermen for the fish they sell to MIFCO within 48 hours.
