Malé, Maldives – President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has stated that the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) would increase its daily fish purchasing by 61 percent this year.
While delivering the presidential address to the nation today, during the first sitting of parliament for this year, President Solih informed the nation that the cold storage capacity in Felivaru, Kooddoo and Kanduoiygiri will be increased by an extra 8,200 metric tonnes this year, increasing the purchase capacity of MIFCO by 61 percent.
President Solih also stated that the government is working on starting the construction work of a cold storage facility with a capacity of 500 tonnes in M. Mulaku and another in Gdh. Thinadhoo with a capacity of 1,000 tonnes.
In 2020, MIFCO had purchased 49,000 metric tonnes of fish equaling MVR 879 million in returns to fishers – the highest number of fish bought by Mifco annually in the last 14 years.
MIFCO has been under scrutiny of fishermen in the past decade over the lack of capacity to purchase tuna caught by the fishermen and the delay in payments from the company to the fishing vessels. Fishermen have recently protested to express their concerns including the delays in weighing the fish and having to dock the boats for a long time at the ports.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih met with fishermen during his visit to Felivaru island in November 2020 and assured that the government was working to resolve the problems that are currently being faced by fishermen.
In addition, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) Ismail Fauzy had stated in December 2020, that the company will be converted to a private limited company and that its resources would also be further developed with the involvement of locals.
Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) was founded on November 1, 1993 and has since then been working to develop the fisheries Industry. 99.99 percent of shares is owned by State Trading Organisation (STO) and 0.01 percent is owned by Allied Insurance, a subsidiary of STO.
