Concerns raised over barriers for local companies in software procurements against ‘Maldives 2.0’ policy

Stakeholders in the Maldivian technology sector have raised concerns over the financial requirements outlined in the tender for the development of the new Education Management Information System (EMIS), arguing that the conditions effectively exclude local firms despite the government’s ‘Maldives 2.0’ policy, which aims to advance the digital economy.

The tender, issued by the Education Ministry through Finance Ministry, requires bidders to provide a bid security of USD 75,000. In addition, participating companies must demonstrate experience in managing projects valued at a minimum of USD 3 million annually over the past three years.

Javaaabu Academy’s CEO, Managing Director Mohamed Jailam and Chief Technology Officer Arushad Ahmed have both expressed concern over these requirements.

Speaking with Sun, Jailam said nearly 90 percent of participants in the project’s information session were foreign companies. In a social media post, Arushad pointed out that the Education Ministry had previously relied on a foreign system that ultimately failed to meet expectations due to its lack of adaptation to Maldivian conditions and requirements.

He further emphasized that while local firms may lack the financial capacity to meet the current criteria for large-scale projects, the country does possess the necessary technical expertise to develop systems such as EMIS. Jailam also maintained that the Maldives has highly skilled developers capable of designing software to international standards.

Although President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu launched “Maldives 2.0” with the objective of raising the digital economy’s contribution to 15 percent of GDP by 2030, industry experts argue that awarding major digital infrastructure projects to foreign companies could undermine the achievement of this target. As such, they have urged the Education Ministry and Ministry to revise the financial thresholds in the tender to better enable participation by local firms.

The project, titled “Design, Implementation, and Training of Users for an Education Management Information System,” is being implemented under the Maldives Atolls Education Development Project (AEDP), with support from the World Bank.

The tender is open to all eligible bidders and is expected to be completed within 365 days. The evaluation process will allocate a 60 percent weighting to technical and non-price criteria, while the bid price will account for 40 percent. Interested parties are required to pay a registration fee of MVR 1,500 or USD 100 via the Bandeyri Pay portal between May 13 and June 31.