Ras Malé Public Monitor Independent public-interest ledger

Before Ras Malé

Two lagoons, two stalled atoll plans, three governments.

The long-lease foreign model did not start in September 2026. It was built in stages, from resort leases to special zones to a 2025 “sustainable township” category. This page sets earlier deals beside Ras Malé on the same questions: who is behind them, how they were awarded, what the state gets, and what happens when the lease ends.

Schematic map of the Maldives atolls with five project locations iHavanHaa Alif AylaNoonu Ras MaléKaafu AmanoluVaavu Faafu2017 plan
Schematic, not to scale. Select a project to jump to it.

Five deals, from north to south

Each pin is coloured by where the project stands today, using the same marks as the ledger.

  • Under construction
  • Opening announced
  • Terms signed, contract unpublished
  • Stalled or not built

Side by side

“Not public” means the monitor has not found the information in an official or reported source. Those gaps are part of the finding.

Question Ras Malé Ayla Amanolu (Fohtheyo) iHavan Faafu
AtollKaafu, next to MaléNoonuVaavuHaa AlifFaafu
GovernmentMuizzu, 2026Leased under Solih, 2022; township under Muizzu, 2025Solih, 2023Yameen, 2014Yameen, 2017
Who is behind itEagle Hills (Abu Dhabi), chairman Mohamed AlabbarCrystal Holdings, with Dubai-based BluRock as shareholderAman Group, chairman Vlad Doronin. Leaseholding company not publicNo developer chosenSaudi-linked investors, not named
Legal routeReal Estate Law, still being draftedSEZ Act, sustainable townshipTourism Act, cross-subsidy leaseSEZ ActNot disclosed
AreaAbout 500 haTwo lagoons and an islandAbout 400 ha sought; minister says 750 haAtoll-scale planNot disclosed
How chosenDeveloper’s own proposal (PSIP), no tenderResort lease, then SEZ permit and investment agreementCross-subsidy for airport financingGovernment-led studiesNot disclosed
Upfront payment to stateNone; 10% revenue shareNot publicNone claimed; airport insteadNot reachedNot reached
Homes for foreign buyersYes, leaseholdYes, township homes16 branded residencesReal estate plannedResidences described
Residency linkCorporate residence visa possible, says minister; no PR claimed. President denied Pearl Residence use in JunePearl Residence programme, designed with Henley & Partners, cited at groundbreakingNot statedNot reachedNot reached
When the lease endsBuy-back claimed, not detailedNot publicTourism Act rule appliesNot reachedNot reached
Contract publicNoNoNoNo contractNo plan published
StatusCommercial terms onlyGround brokenOpening 2028 announcedRevival announced 2023Did not proceed

The projects

Noonu Atoll, SEZ sustainable township

Project Ayla

Ground broken

What was promised

Value
More than USD 790 million
Sites
Dhigufaru and Dhekenanfaru lagoons, Kuramaadhoo
Uses
Luxury residences, resort and marina; healthcare centre; hospitality school; aquaculture and agriculture
Energy
At least 60% renewable
Target
2028

What happened

2022
About 745 ha of lagoon leased as a resort site, then called Ayla Maldives, through an unsolicited proposal
Mar 2025
Initial township permit
9 Dec 2025
Full permit
31 Dec 2025
Investment agreement; SEZ designated by decree
29 Jan 2026
Ground broken by the President
Aug 2026
Eighth EIA addendum: 25 islands and islets, including a golf island and an enlarged royal island. Hospital, school and farms required of a township not yet in the EIA filings; ministry says the operating licence depends on them

Relevance to Ras Malé. Ayla shows that a lease can change owners and change category: a 2022 resort lease became, after a new foreign shareholder joined, the country’s first township where foreigners can buy long leases on homes.

Sources: Trade Ministry, Jan 2026; Maldives Independent, Oct 2026; Corporate Maldives, 2024; Foreign investment registry, Sept 2025; Sun, 29 Jan 2026.

Vaavu Atoll, Tourism Act cross-subsidy lease

Fohtheyo lagoon: Amanolu

Opening 2028 announced

What was promised

Resort
52 keys, plus 16 residences of five to ten bedrooms, each on its own island
Concept
27 reclaimed islands, shaped after marine life such as the stingray
Architect
Kerry Hill Architects
In return
Financing for an airport, under the cross-subsidy rules

What happened

2023
Lagoon leased
Objection
Vaavu Atoll Council said it had not consented
Apr 2025
Civil Court dismissed the council’s case on procedure
Sept 2026
Named Amanolu; opening 2028 announced. Construction status not verified here

Relevance to Ras Malé. Fohtheyo is the closest precedent for giving a large lagoon without an upfront fee in exchange for something built for the state: an airport there, 5,000 homes in Hulhumalé for Ras Malé. Both trade-offs depend on terms the public cannot yet read.

Sources: Adhadhu, Apr 2025; Edition, Sept 2026; Government Gazette, May 2023; LATTE, Sept 2024.

Haa Alif, Ihavandhippolhu

iHavan: the northern port city

Revival announced 2023

What was promised

Announced
2014, by President Yameen at an investment forum in Singapore
Uses
Transhipment port, airport, bunkering, export processing zone, cruise terminal, real estate, tourism
Pitch
A trading hub on the shipping lanes through the northern channel

What happened

Studies
Feasibility by Boston Consulting Group; master plan awarded to Surbana of Singapore
To 2018
No significant work
Nov 2023
Economic Minister Saeed said it would resume. Progress not verified here

Relevance to Ras Malé. iHavan was announced at full scale and studied, but not built. The size of an announcement is not a measure of delivery.

Sources: Minivan News; Edition; Adhadhu, Nov 2023.

Faafu Atoll, announced and not built

The Saudi-linked plan that stopped

Did not proceed

What was promised

In 2017 President Yameen announced a multi-billion-dollar investment for Faafu, described by his office as mixed development, residences, resorts and airports, with Saudi-linked investors. The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party said the atoll was being sold. The government denied any sale.

What happened

Faafu residents protested. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman cancelled a visit. In July 2017 Yameen said political leaders were objecting, and that he would not take responsibility if the investment did not come. It did not. The Saudi embassy said it had no plan to buy an island or atoll.

Relevance to Ras Malé. Faafu was announced without a published plan or named investor. Ras Malé has a named developer, but its signed terms are also unpublished.

Sources: Edition, 2017; Edition, July 2017.

The residency link: Henley & Partners and the Pearl Residence

Selling homes to foreigners is one half of the township model. The other half is letting buyers stay. That half is being designed with a private firm.

What the arrangement is

Programme
Maldives Pearl Residence, a residency-by-investment scheme tied to buying real estate
Partner
Henley & Partners, a global residence and citizenship advisory firm. Contracting company: Henley & Partners Immigration Services DMCC, United Arab Emirates
Agreement
Signed 1 July 2025, announced at a business forum in Singapore
How chosen
Henley pitched the programme; the economic ministry accepted it as a private-sector-initiated proposal, the same route later used for Eagle Hills
Henley’s role
Help build the investor-visa framework; support application processing, administration and recommendations. The government decides each application
Who pays
No fees from public funds, says Henley. Applicant fees may fund the programme office, including service providers; Henley may also charge clients directly
Expected revenue
More than USD 1 billion, by the Economic Minister’s “preliminary programme modelling”

How it touches each project

  • Ayla. At the January 2026 groundbreaking, Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed said Pearl Residence “connects large-scale investment and development with long-term residency.” Foreign-registered companies may buy leasehold homes in the zone.
  • Ras Malé. In June 2026 President Muizzu said no part of Ras Malé would be given to any party for the Pearl Residence programme. In October the Housing Minister said Ras Malé buyers could apply for the corporate residence visa introduced in 2015, and that purchase would never lead to permanent residency or citizenship. Which visa route applies is not yet in any published text.

Sources: Maldives Independent, 14 Oct 2026, reported with OCCRP; Henley & Partners, July 2025; Maldives Independent, Sept 2026.

When the lease ends

What happens at the end of a long lease decides whether the land really comes back to the state. Each legal route answers differently. See also explainer 10.

Tourism Act resorts

The island returns to the state. Buildings and items are valued and the former lessee is paid within two years. A new lessee pays the state that value; the former lessee may bid again.

Written in law

SEZ townships

The 2025 township law does not grant freehold. What happens to homes and buildings at expiry is not stated in the summaries the monitor has seen.

Not verified here

Ras Malé

The President says buyers must sell back to the state after 99 years. Eagle Hills published a lease that starts again on each sale. No valuation rule, payment period or re-tender rule has been stated.

Claimed, not detailed

What the 2025 township law allows

Minimum investment
USD 500 million
Required uses
Integrated tourism or large real estate, plus education or healthcare
Utilities
Own energy and waste systems, at least 60% renewable power
Transfer tax on long-lease sales
1%, then 2%, then 3%
Income tax
5% for 10 years, then 10% for 10 years
Other relief
Capital-gains exemption on residential sales; import-duty relief on capital goods
Foreign freehold
Not granted

Ras Malé is not in this category. The Attorney General says it will sit under a Real Estate Law still being drafted, and the government says no SEZ or Tourism Act tax relief applies.

How the model was built

Each government widened what foreign investors can hold. Law marks a change in the rules; Project marks a deal.

Gayoom

  1. 1999Law

    Tourism Act. Resort leases about 25 years. Land stays with the state.

Nasheed

  1. 2010Law

    Resort leases extended to 50 years; long leases of resort villas allowed.

Yameen

  1. 2014Law

    Special Economic Zones Act (Law 24/2014). Long leases and incentives for a single developer in a marked zone.

  2. 2014Project

    iHavan port city announced in Singapore. See above.

  3. Apr 2015Law

    Resort leases to 99 years. Corporate Resident visa for large real-estate investment.

  4. Jul 2015Law

    Foreign freehold allowed above USD 1 billion if 70% of the site was reclaimed. No land was sold under it.

  5. 2017Project

    Faafu plan announced with Saudi-linked investors, then stalled. See above.

Solih

  1. Apr 2019Law

    Foreign freehold clause repealed. 99-year lease cap restored.

  2. 2018–23Law

    Strata leasing added to the Tourism Act; cross-subsidy rules (R-125/2022).

  3. 2022Project

    Noonu lagoons leased; later Project Ayla. See above.

  4. 2023Project

    Fohtheyo lagoon leased; later Amanolu. See above.

Muizzu

  1. Nov 2025Law

    Sustainable township added to the SEZ Act (Law 18/2025). Minimum USD 500 million.

  2. Jul 2025Project

    Pearl Residence agreement with Henley & Partners. See above.

  3. Dec 2025Project

    Ayla becomes the first sustainable township.

  4. Sept 2026Project

    Ras Malé commercial terms with Eagle Hills. Tracked on the ledger.

Ras Malé is tracked in full on the ledger, with plain-language notes in the explainers.