Ministry of Economic Development has said that the pre-qualification phase is underway to develop a new fish processing plant and cold storage at Lhaviyani Atoll Felivaru under loan from India's Exim Bank.

The project entails a four ton cold storage and a plant capable of processing 100 tons of fish a day. It also would develop other resources such as refrigerated sea water facility, fishmeal plant and an ice plant, according to the Economic Ministry.

Under the same project, a 50 ton ice plant is set to be developed at Gaafu Alifu Atoll Gemanafushi.

One of the biggest changes to the fishing industry in the Maldives is the low prices for frozen fish exports from the Maldives. The Economic Ministry said that an important step to address this issue is to increase the export of processed fish and so this project is going to double the processing capacity.

The Economic Ministry said that this project is going to greatly benefit fishermen, MIFCO and the entire Maldivian fishing industry and in turn, the economy with the fishermen being able to sell their daily catch without difficulty.