News Desk
MALE’ — The Maldives will introduce multipurpose smart national identity cards capable of facilitating financial transactions within the next year to 18 months, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu announced on Friday evening.
Speaking on the state broadcaster’s Nation Chat programme, President Muizzu outlined the initiative as a cornerstone of the administration’s “Maldives 2.0” digital transformation agenda, which targets building the digital economy into a 15 per cent contributor to gross domestic product by 2030.
Under the planned overhaul, the traditional physical identity card will transition into a feature-rich smart card integrated with digital financial and public service networks.
“The physical identity card we currently carry will evolve into a digitalised smart ID card,” President Muizzu said. “God willing, as scheduled, this transformation will be realised within the next year to year and a half.”
To establish the necessary regulatory foundation, the government has submitted a draft bill to Parliament. The President noted that full implementation would require seamless integration across state institutions, state-owned enterprises, and commercial banks.
The government’s broader digital strategy aims to ensure that all public services can be accessed remotely from any island across the archipelago, reducing geographic barriers to administrative procedures.