MOT announces EIFEC Compliance Officer Training Programme for Guesthouses and local councils

The Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the European Institute for Export Compliance (EIFEC) and The Maldives National University (MNU) has announced the commencement of a ‘Compliance Officer Training Programme’ with the EIFEC compliance standards of the tourism industry.

The program targets to implement EIFEC’s global initiative of Compliance to “Vaccinate your Business”. The program is set to follow the standards of the emergency International Standards Series EIFEC ES2001.06:HBY, developed by EIFEC, registered at the Commission of the European Union, through a multi-stakeholder consultation process. EIFEC in collaboration with MNU and the University of Turin (UNITO), has developed the program to train over 800 Compliance Officers from guest houses and local councils. The program for the councils will be conducted associated with the Local Government Authority (LGA). 

The training is scheduled to start on 21 October 2020, via an online 2 hours sessions per day for a duration of 5 days, a total of 10 hours during the week with no fee charged. Upon completion, a certificate by EIFEC, in association with MNU and UNITO, will be awarded to the participants.

The announcement was made at a virtual press conference attended by Minister of Tourism, Dr. Abdulla Mausoom, Mr. Charles Giacoma, Director-General, EIFEC, Ms. Fezlyn Saleem, Executive Director, EIFEC, Dr. Aishath Shehenaz  Adam, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise), MNU and Dr. Raheema Abdul Raheem, Dean of Research, MNU.

Due to the global pandemic, many international restrictions and government regulations were implemented and the lockdown implemented brought a halt to tourism operations in the Maldives, preventing many businesses from continuing regular operations. However, with the reopening of international borders and government permitting the reopening of guesthouses in residential islands, it important to follow numerous health and safety procedures to ensure the well-being of visitors and to control the spreading of COVID-19 in the ongoing global pandemic. Thus the program is expected to help businesses to resume operations, assisting in boosting up the Maldives’ economy, which was affected by the pandemic.