State-owned enterprises seeking to lease lagoons, islands, or land for resort development will be required to have a minimum government shareholding of 45 percent under a newly introduced regulation.
The regulation sets out the conditions under which islands, land, and lagoons may be leased to state-owned companies for the development and operation of tourist resorts and integrated tourist resorts. It establishes eligibility requirements for state enterprises and introduces an approval process for such leases.
Under the regulation, any proposal to lease a designated property to a state-owned company must first be reviewed and approved by the cabinet. The company selected for the project must also demonstrate that it has the financial capacity and technical expertise required to carry out the proposed resort development.
A key requirement is that the government must hold at least 45 percent of the company for it to qualify for the lease. The regulation also states that the lease of any island, land, or lagoon to a state-owned company must be formalised through a legally binding agreement between the government and the leasing entity.
The framework comes as public scrutiny increases over the expanding commercial role of state-owned enterprises, particularly in sectors where private companies have traditionally been active. Concerns have also been raised over the allocation of major projects to SOEs and whether such arrangements create uneven conditions for private businesses.
Critics have argued that greater state participation in commercial activity can narrow opportunities for private operators and affect their ability to compete, particularly in capital-intensive sectors such as tourism and real estate development.
The new regulation provides a formal route for SOEs to obtain resort development leases, while setting minimum ownership, approval, and capacity requirements for such projects.
