The groundbreaking ceremony of the Hankede Integrated Tourism Development Project in Addu City was held on Monday evening.

Home Minister Ali Ihusan, the Managing Director of Maldives Fund Management Corporation (MFMC) Ahmed Nazim Aboobakur, and China National Electrical Engineering Company (CNEEC) Vice President Jin Qiho laid the foundation stone of the project at a ceremony held in Addu City.

The long-unfinished Addu Hankede development project was awarded to CNEEC on March 30 last year. The company has decided to build 1,041 rooms in Hankede. That’s 2,082 tourist beds. Hankede can accommodate 25,000 tourists at a time.

Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, by a presidential decree, designated Hankede as the government’s tourism real estate development project area on December 2, 2021.

There have been five attempts to develop a resort in Hankede. While they never materialized, the government-owned Maldives Fund Management Corporation announced the development of Hankede and released design photos.

It is one of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu's presidential pledges to start and continue the hankede project.