The government-owned Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Limited (MIFCO) has been reverted from a subsidiary of the State Trading Organization (STO) to a separate company.
MIFCO was formerly operated as an STO subsidiary with 99.99 percent of shares owned by STO and 0.01 percent of shares held by the Allied Insurance Company.
MIFCO's conversion into a 100 percent state-owned enterprise was announced by the government on Wednesday.
According to the Finance Ministry, the share transfer agreement for the conversion was signed on December 20. The change will pave the way for aligning MIFCO with government policies with direct and indirect financial aid and other assistance for the company, the ministry said.
MIFCO is a government-owned company formed in 1993 after renaming the Maldives Fisheries Corporation (MFC). Three decades later, MIFCO is among the worst-performing government companies as a result of corruption, political influence and poor management.
MIFCO was brought under STO and started operating as a subsidiary in 2016 in a bid to save the company from debt and generate profits.
