1. The Government of Maldives (hereinafter referred to as the “Government”) represented by the Ministry of Tourism (hereinafter referred to as the “Ministry”), hereby announces public tendering for the lease of a 132,000 Square Feet plot of land in Manadhoo in Noonu Atoll for the development, operation and management of a Tourist Hotel (hereinafter referred to as the “Plot of Land”).
2. The Ministry now invites sealed bids from eligible bidders, local and foreign (hereinafter referred to as the “Bidder”) for the acquisition of the leasehold rights of the above .
3. The plot of land  shall be leased for a period of 50 (Fifty) years pursuant to Section 8 of the Law Number 2/99 (Maldives Tourism Act).
4. The Plot of Land shall be granted a maximum construction period of 30 (Thirty) months from the date of signing the lease agreement.
5. The Bidder is required to propose an amount of no less than USD 62,000 (Sixty Two Thousand United States Dollars) which shall be paid to the Government as the lease acquisition cost (hereinafter referred to as the “LAC”) of the Plot of Land, to be paid, on or before 60 (Sixty) days from date of the Letter of Award for the acquisition of the leasehold rights of the Plot of Land (hereinafter referred to as the “LOA”).
6. The Bidder shall submit a bank guarantee as bid security (hereinafter referred to as the “Bid Security”) amounting to USD 20,000 (Twenty Thousand United States Dollars Only), issued by a reputable financial institution approved by Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) or the relevant financial regulatory authority in the country of issuance, in accordance with the form 2 in Annex II of the Bidding Documents, and valid for 150 (One hundred and Fifty) calendar days beyond the Bid Opening Date.
7. The Ministry shall evaluate and compare Substantially Responsive Bids and the Highest Bidder shall be selected based on the below criteria for the Plot of Land.

      8. The Highest Bidder shall within a period of 60 (Sixty) calendar days from the LOA, submit a report that provides an assessment of the environmental conditions of the Plot of Land, confirming the suitability of the plot of land for development. In addition, a land survey report of the Plot of Land produced by a Ministry’s approved surveyor shall be submitted to the Ministry within the period of 60 (Sixty) calendar days stated herein.

      9. The Highest Bidder shall pay the LAC pursuant to  the terms of the LOA and failure of which will result in the following;

          a) Cancellation of the LOA; and

          b) Forfeiture of the Bid Security; and

          c) Awarding a new LOA to the next Highest Bidder under the terms of clause 7.

     10. Interested parties may obtain further information, inspect and purchase the Bidding Documents from 22^nd March  2021 up to the 06^th April 2021, between 09:00hrs to 13:00hrs, at the following address:

Ministry of Tourism

5^th Floor, Velaanaage

Ameer Ahmed Magu

Male’, Republic of Maldives

Telephone: + (960) 302 2200, + (960) 302 2266,  Facsimile: + (960) 332 2512

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.tourism.gov.mv

     11. An application form must be completed and submitted to the Ministry for the purposes of this IFB (hereinafter referred to as the “Application Form”). This Application form is available from the Ministry’s reception or from the Ministry’s website.

     12. A set of the bidding documents for the purposes of this IFB (hereinafter referred to as the “Bidding Documents”), can be purchased from the Ministry. The price of the Bidding Documents for individuals, registered businesses shall be USD500(Five Hundred United States Dollars Only) for locals and USD1000 (One Thousand United States Dollars Only) for foreign entities. This payment is non – refundable.

     13. The Application Form shall be accompanied by:

          a) If the Bidder is a registered business, a power of attorney granted to the person who will be signing the application form and tender documents. This however, will not be applicable to individual bidders signing their application forms and their own bids.

          b) If the Bidder is an individual a copy of their national identity card or passport. If the applicant is a registered business a copy of the registration certificate.

          c) Payment for the Bidding Documents as specified in Clause 12, which shall be paid to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (hereinafter referred to as the “MIRA”).

     14. Upon payment for Bidding Documents, MIRA shall issue a payment receipt to the Bidder. The Bidder shall then submit this receipt to the Ministry, and the Ministry shall issue to the Bidder a unique bid serial number (hereinafter referred to as the “Bid Serial Number”).

     15. The Bidding Documents and the Bid Serial Number are non-transferable.

     16. Each bidder shall submit only one bid for the plot of land.

     17. A Bid will not be disqualified or deemed invalid for the reason that it is the only Bid submitted for the purposes herein.

     18. A pre-bid meeting to provide information for interested parties shall be held virtually at 13:00 hrs on Monday, 29^th March 2021 through ZOOM. Those who wishes to participate must email to [email protected] expressing the interest with name, email address and phone number, before 14:00hrs of Sunday, 28^th March 2021.

     19. Bids must be delivered before 10:00 hrs on Thursday, 8^th April 2021 to the address in IFB Clause 10 or any other venue that the Ministry may announce.

     20. Bids will be opened in the presence of bidders or their representatives who choose to attend the event at 10:00 hrs on Thursday, 8^th April 2021 at the office of the Ministry or at any other venue that the Ministry may announce.

     21. Any change to the venue for the event pursuant to IFB Clause 10 will be announced through electronic media and posted on the website of the Ministry. No further notification of the time, date and/or the venue for the events will be issued by the Ministry.

     22. For the avoidance of doubt, please note that all payments made pursuant to the IFB, Bid and ITB shall be made in the currencies specified in the ITB.