DTIS, Volume I - Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF)

of added value accruing to the Maldives. While export volumes continue to grow, export
values vary according to the international price level, where the Maldives is a price taker
on virtually all fish products. Only the fairly small volume of canned fish attracts a small
premium of approximately Rf 25.50 (US$ 2) per case, due to the environment-friendly -
but not labeled as such - status of the product where the raw material is caught by pole
and line.
The importance of reef fish exports has been declining in the last few years, but the
export of sea cucumber remains significant. The decline in reef fish products is a
reflection of lower volumes of landings, and increased sales domestically to the tourism
resorts. The majority of fish product exports are now handled by the private sector rather
than by the parastatal fish company, MIFCO. In both 2003 and 2004, private sector
exports accounted for roughly two-thirds of fisheries exports.
Table 3.6: Principal Exports (2003-2005)
Description 2003 2004 2005
(Jan-Jun)
Value
(RF
% Total
Exports
Value
(RF
% Total
Exports
Value
(RF
% Total
Exports
mn)
mn)
mn)
Various tuna products 843 58.3 1,056 67.2 682 91.3
Reef fish products 61 4.2 23 0.1 0 0.0
Sea Cucumber (dried) 43 3.0 31 2.0 15 2.0
Other Marine Products 19 1.3 30 2.4 28 3.7
Fish Meal 13 0.9 15 1.0 9 1.2
Sub-Total Fish sector 979 67.8 1,156 72.5 734 98.3
Garments and apparel 462 32.0 409 26.0 8 1.1
Other (mostly scrap
4 0.3 8 1.5 5 0.7
metal)
TOTAL 1,445 100.0% 1,572 100.0% 747 100.0%
Source: Calculated from Statistical Yearbook of Maldives 2004 and Customs Services data on
export by commodity.
In 2003, exports of garments and apparel accounted for 32 per cent of total exports, some
Rf 461 million ($ 36 million). The decline in this sector started in 2004, when their share
of exports had dropped to 26 per cent ($32million) and then virtually disappeared in
2005. As previously noted, the reason for this was the closure of the factories at the end
of 2004 due to expiration of the Multi Fibre Agreement and the removal of quotas (see
box).
Box: Impact of international trade rules:
Sri Lankan investors had established a garment and apparel industry in Maldives as a way of
overcoming quotas imposed on Sri Lanka. Once the quotas had been removed at the end of 2004
due to the end of the MFA, there was no incentive for them to remain in the Maldives, especially
as the local production was much less competitive than that in Sri Lanka. The closure of the
industry is a good illustration of the impact that international trade regulations can have on an
economy.
There is a small amount of re-exports of desalination parts, scrap metal, velambuli (plant
oil used for therapeutic treatments indigenous to the Maldives) and handicrafts.
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