Villa Shipping & Trading Co. Ltd.

completed

SUMMARY OF PROJECT INFORMATIONProject Name Maldives-Villa Shipping & Trading Co. Pte. Ltd. Region AsiaSector TourismProject No 005061 Projected Board Date June 29, 1995Company Name Villa Shipping & Trading Co. Pte. LtdTechnical Partner and/or Major Shareholders The Company is wholly owned by Mr. Qasim Ibrahim, a leading local businessman engaged in tourism, shipping, trading, contracting and marine transfers. LTI International Hotels, Germany, will provide technical and marketing assistance to the resort.Description of Location Nalaguraidhoo (Sun Island), a 50 hectare island located 110 km south west of Male'' on the southern tip of Ari Atoll in the Maldives.Project Cost and Proposed IFC Investment US$21 million (under review). An IFC Loan of US$6 million is proposed.Description of Company and Purpose of Project The Company already operates three island resorts in the Maldives with a total of 382 rooms. The project is to construct a fourth resort on Sun Island leased by the Government to the company for this purpose in October 1993 for 21 years. Tourism is a key sector in the Maldivian economy catering to the growing tourist traffic from Europe, East Asia and the Pacific region. This will be IFC''s first investment in the Maldives.Environmental Category and Issues This is a Category A project according to IFC''s environmental review procedure. Environmental, health and safety issues associated with this project include site selection, protection of coastal resources, liquid effluent, solid wastes, land use, fire protection and life safety. The Sponsor has prepared a detailed Environmental Assessment (EA). The Sun Island resort will be one of the first resorts to operate an advanced secondary treatment facility. Solid waste will be disposed of via composting and a high temperature incinerator. Provisions for fire and safety will be in accordance with World Bank guidelines. Villa Shipping & Trading Company''s diving school rigorously follows a reef diving code which includes strict policies to prevent damage to coral reefs. The Environmental Assessment and EA Executive Summary are available from the Public Information Center.Date SPI sent to PIC: May 26, 1995For additional Information contact: Corporate Relations Unit - telephone (202) 473-7711 - facsimile: (202) 676-0365.Environmental documents for this project are available at http://www.ifc.org and from the World Bank InfoShop (http://www.worldbank.org/html/pic/aboutinfo.html).