Foreign-owned firms banned from event management and entertainment

Foreign-owned businesses have been banned from operating in event management, entertainment and production.

The economic development ministry announced Tuesday that foreign investments will no longer be permitted in event management, renting of audiovisual equipment, sale or renting of musical instruments and related services.

Foreign investments will be restricted to partnerships with at least a 51 percent stake owned by Maldivians. Existing foreign-owned businesses were instructed to cease operations.

In a purported bid to boost youth employment, the government previously banned foreigners from selling mobile phones and accessories, providing photography-related services, and operating souvenir shops and customs bonded warehouses.

A ban on employing foreign cashiers in restaurants, cafés and shops came into effect in 2015.

The economic ministry is authorised to take the protectionist measures by the business registration rules.

Nearly a quarter of Maldivian youth are not employed or engaged in education or training, according to the World Bank