The government has signed a loan agreement worth approximately USD 9.7 million (KWD 3 million) with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development to construct a new 50-bed hospital in Thaa Atoll’s Veymandoo.
Finance Minister Hassan Zareer and Kuwait Fund Acting Director General Rashaid A. Al-Bader signed the agreement on 4 November. The project will deliver a modern, fully equipped secondary-care facility for residents of Veymandoo and surrounding islands, reducing the need to travel to the capital for treatment.
This is the Fund’s 15th loan to the Maldives and its first investment in the health sector. The financing falls within the existing annual country limit of around USD 10 million. Following discussions on the sidelines of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank annual meeting, the Fund has decided to raise that annual limit to approximately USD 40 million from 2027.
President Mohamed Muizzu had pledged improved healthcare facilities in Veymandoo during a visit in September 2025. The new hospital is expected to address space constraints at the existing atoll hospital. The total project cost is estimated at around KWD 6.3 million, with the Kuwaiti loan covering roughly half.
Officials said the partnership continues a relationship that began with the first agreement in 1976.
