The Impact of COVID-19 on the Construction Sector of Maldives. Phase 1: Initial Assessment

Construction is an increasingly important sector in the Maldivian economy. For the past several years, construction sector GDP hovered around the second or third highest in the economy. However, the sector has been adversely affected from the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic as unprecedented prevention measures had to be taken, globally and in the Maldives that severely restricted people’s movements, business operations, and economic and social activities.

Hence, in the wake of this pandemic, this study was commissioned by the Ministry of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (MNPHI) and being conducted by researchers at the Maldives National University (MNU). The broad objective of the study is to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the construction sector. A more elaborate discussion of the sector follows in the relevant sections below and the detailed terms of reference of the study is attached as Annex 2.

The study is divided into two phases: this report which is a preliminary assessment based on the available literature is the first phase; and the second phase is planned to comprise a survey of construction sector including a survey of sector specific specialist service firms.