It goes without saying that both human talent and financial resources are essential ingredients to the good growth of an economy. These are inputs that countries can’t do away with. The situation for the Maldives is fairly straight that ordinary people on the streets utter at near precision, that wealth generated takes flight, that the country is left with no money, unstable economy and poor-country-ratings cause high borrowing costs that in turn pushes the pricing of funds and other products, talents are seriously lacking and that locals pick and choose jobs they want, that are all counterproductive for business and industries. As it is, expatriates contribute very positively to the Maldives economy by filling the vacancies that Maldivians shy away from or are yet incapable of. Expatriate nationality mix means Bangladeshi’s through being Moslems, subject to confirming other criteria of course, are the only promising nationality that will be allowed to integrate into the Maldives. When most small and poor countries invite and offer citizenship in return for investors definitive and long term contribution to the economy, Maldivians are scared to death to open this up. Investors bring about wealth and know-how that through provisions in the legislation, the country’s economic multiplier can be positively altered.

Aspiring Maldivians seek nothing less than systems they observe in the developed world are challenging the local politicians for good change. But let us face it, for the Maldivians to give birth to every type of talent and to necessary numbers of wealthy businessmen (replicating enough buruma gasim’s) to turn the economy when they finally grow up in 30 years is, if anything, a far off dream. If a single DRP member is able to lock the Maldives citizenship for Moslems only and that such a provision goes uncontested, present generations are likely to re-witness the same slow growth 5000 years onward by when, if lucky, we may have a population of two million people in 200 islands. Mind you, the diseconomies we are living today, mainly as a result of the small population, could cause very harsh situations in near term. 

A reality we must all wakeup for is that through will, talent and enabling provisions, situations can be altered to benefit the economy in short and long term.