Maldives taps Chinese cues for key plan

Continuity in China's development planning offers an important lesson for the Maldives as it prepares its 2040 development vision, a senior Maldivian official said.

Ahmed Afzal Ibrahim, Maldives' minister of state for finance and public enterprises, said China's experience in aligning budgets with development goals and monitoring implementation was particularly relevant to challenges his country faces.

"The biggest challenge we face in the Maldives is the continuity of any and every development plan," said Ibrahim, who is leading an eight-member delegation on a six-day study program in Beijing.

The Maldives is preparing its 2040 blueprint following an earlier vision document for 2020, he said.

The workshop, running from Monday to Saturday, is jointly organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and the International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Ibrahim said the sessions had shown how China linked development with the cultural resources of different regions. He was impressed by the scale of China's efforts to coordinate development, but stressed that the Maldives would need to adapt those lessons to its own circumstances.

The country could not simply copy China's approach, he said, adding that the delegation would consider how to incorporate relevant experience into Maldivian development documents.

The workshop covers planning, fiscal policy, the marine economy and cultural tourism, with a curriculum designed around the needs of an island nation, organizers said.

It also includes visits to companies with overseas investment experience.

Zhuo Lin, an economic affairs officer in ESCAP's Macroeconomic Policy and Financing for Development Division, said the program was designed to contribute directly to the national development plan the Maldives is drafting.

It forms part of broader ESCAP support aimed at helping the country pursue growth that improves productivity, rather than focusing solely on GDP, she said.

That support has included strategic foresight training, exchanges with planning agencies from China, Indonesia and Vietnam, and a productivity analysis report to inform the planning process.

The China visit followed several months of preparation and repeated consultations with the Maldivian government. Both the concept and the program were revised several times to reflect the country's priorities, Zhuo said.

Organizers said the exchange forms part of an ESCAP project promoting economic growth in Asia-Pacific countries through higher productivity and structural transformation. The curriculum takes account of the Maldives' stage of development and needs as an island nation.

Zhuo said ESCAP saw potential to provide similar support to other developing countries, describing the initiative as an example of South-South Cooperation that combines exchanges of experience with advice tailored to national circumstances.