Malé, Maldives, June 29, 2010
─IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has completed its task of assisting the government of Maldives to attract private investors to upgrade and modernize Malé International Airport. The winning bidder will modernize airport infrastructure and facilities to improve efficiencies, provide better services, and boost the country’s tourism potential.
The tender was awarded to a consortium of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (Malaysia) and GMR Infrastructure Limited (India) which have a reputation for running world-class airports in Malaysia, India and Turkey. The Concession Agreement was signed between the consortium, the government of Maldives and Maldives Airport Company Limited on June 28 2010 at The President’s Office.
As Lead Transaction Advisor, IFC extended its expertise for leading fair and competitive transactions the world over in assisting the government of Maldives to structure a public-private partnership agreement between the government and investors.
Male International Airport requires immediate physical infrastructure improvements to sustain tourism. The tourism sector is a major contributor to the country’s economic sustenance and improvements planned at the airport are critical to its continued growth. Private investors are expected to bring international managerial capabilities and best practices to help the airport operate at full potential, while safeguarding the interests of shareholders, customers, and employees.
The government initiated the exercise of attracting a private investor in December 2008. Brought on board in August 2009, IFC worked closely with the government, Maldives Airport Company Limited and the Civil Aviation Department to launch an international, transparent and competitive bidding process to identify a private investor and structure a partnership that complements the Maldivian tourism-reliant island economy.
The tender process, launched with IFC’s assistance in October 2009, is now completed. Of the six pre-qualified international and experienced airport operations firms and consortia, three submitted their bids, including Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad with GMR Infrastructure Ltd., TAV Airports Holdings (Turkey) with Aéroports de Paris Management (France), and Flughafen Zurich AG (Switzerland) with GVK Infrastructure Ltd (India).
As per the rules of the tender process, after the Evaluation Committee’s assessment of the legal and technical bids, the sealed financial bids were opened in a public ceremony by Minister of Finance and Treasury Ali Hashim, in the presence of representatives of the Maldivian press and all the bidder consortia.
IFC has experience in helping state-owned enterprises attract private investment in the air transport sector, including Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia. To learn more about IFC’s activities in South Asia, visit
www.ifc.org/southasia
.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing capital for private enterprise, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $14.5 billion in fiscal 2009, helping channel capital into developing countries during the financial crisis. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
