Maldives allows foreigners to buy land for first time
Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen has approved a law passed by the country’s parliament allowing foreign ownership of land for the first time.
Yameen signed the new legislation on Thursday after lawmakers approved it the previous day.
Those who want to buy land in the Maldives must invest more than USD 1 billion provided that only 70% of it is reclaimed from the Indian Ocean country.
The government says it approved the law only to attract foreign investment on a commercial basis, dismissing fears that it could undermine security in the Indian Ocean region.
"We want to mobilize investments worth at least one billion dollars," the country’s Vice President Ahmed Adeeb said.
The Maldives is a sovereign island country made up of almost 1,200 tiny islands situated in the Indian Ocean south of India and west of Sri Lanka.
It has endured considerable political unrest since its first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, was overthrown in a coup in February 2012.
Iran dismisses UK, Australia’s ‘baseless’ claims, urges end to interventions in West Asia
Islamophobic graffiti found in Sydney suburb sparks outrage
Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo calls for nuclear-free world
VIDEO | Rome, Milan host new protests in solidarity with Palestinians
Dec. 21: ‘Axis of Resistance’ operations against Israeli occupation
Spain jurists demand ties with Israel ties be cut
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
VIDEO | Iran honors top Science Olympiad medalists
VIDEO | Austrians arrested at Gaza protest in Vienna
10 killed in bus crash in western Iran
VIDEO | One-man-band journalism with Civili
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
