President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has said the government intends to begin construction on some new resort developments in November under a national shareholding initiative designed to give every Maldivian citizen an ownership stake in the tourism sector.

Speaking at a press briefing at the President’s Office on Monday, President Dr. Muizzu said locations for 10 proposed resort projects are expected to be selected within the week.

The administration is working to move the developments forward quickly, with the aim of launching at least some construction activities before the end of the year.

The proposed model would allow Maldivian citizens to become shareholders in the resorts developed through the initiative.

Once the properties are completed and begin operating, citizens would be eligible to receive dividends in US Dollars through their accounts.

The plan represents a broader effort to widen public participation in the country’s tourism economy, which remains the Maldives’ main source of foreign currency earnings.

Rather than limiting resort ownership and profits to a relatively small group of private investors and companies, the initiative seeks to create a mechanism through which tourism revenue can be distributed more broadly across the population.

Muizzu first outlined the proposal in his presidential address to Parliament in February. At the time, he said a government-owned company would be tasked with developing 10 islands into resorts over a three-year period.

If implemented as described, the initiative could establish a new state-led approach to tourism development in the Maldives.

It would combine public investment in resort infrastructure with a national shareholding structure intended to provide citizens with a direct financial interest in the performance of tourism properties.

The government has not yet announced the islands selected for the projects, the financing structure, the value or allocation of citizen shares, or the expected timeline for the resorts to begin operations.

Those details will be central to determining how the dividend mechanism would work and the potential economic benefit for individual shareholders.

The proposed programme has significant implications for wealth distribution, public ownership, and access to foreign-currency income.

By linking citizens directly to resort earnings, the government aims to position tourism not only as a national industry, but also as a long-term source of individual financial participation for Maldivians.