For decades, the turquoise lagoons and white-sand islands of the Maldives have drawn the world’s attention — and fueled an industry that sustains the nation. Yet a question has quietly lingered among many Maldivians: how directly do ordinary citizens benefit from this global success story?

In his annual Presidential Address to Parliament on Thursday, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu offered an answer many now describe as ambitious, yet realistic.

The President announced plans to establish a state-backed company that will develop at least 10 resorts across the Maldives — but with a defining difference. This company will not belong to a select few. It will belong to the people. Every Maldivian citizen will be a shareholder.

Under the plan, revenue generated from these resorts will be directly credited to individual bank accounts, ensuring that benefits flow straight to citizens without intermediaries. Government estimates suggest that each Maldivian could receive at least USD 400 annually, once operations begin.

The resorts are expected to be completed by 2030, with revenue distribution starting the same year.

President Muizzu framed the initiative as a matter of fairness and shared ownership. Tourism, he noted, depends on the country’s natural resources — resources that belong to everyone. This plan, he said, is about giving every citizen a direct stake in an industry built on shared national wealth.

Critics have raised questions, as they often do when bold ideas are introduced. But many observers see the proposal as grounded in possibility rather than rhetoric — a structured attempt to turn national prosperity into personal benefit.

If realised, the vision would mark a quiet but powerful shift: every Maldivian becoming a resort owner, not in name alone, but in tangible annual returns — income deposited directly, reliably, and equally.

For a nation shaped by the ocean and sustained by tourism, it is a story of ownership, inclusion, and the belief that prosperity should not be distant — but shared.