Representatives from key segments of the tuna fisheries value chain in the Republic of Maldives gathered in Malé on 12-13 February 2025 for the Tuna Think Tank Workshop. This event brought together significant stakeholders, including delegates from the Maldivian government, fish processing companies, tuna exporters, local financial institutions, science and sustainability experts, and development partners such as international impact investors, insurance companies, and multilateral organizations.

The primary objective of the workshop was to create a comprehensive roadmap for the Maldives tuna sector. This roadmap aims to consolidate Blue Economy efforts, enhance the sustainability of the industry throughout the tuna value chain, and secure access to financing that supports its transformation and growth. By reviewing each step in the value chain, the workshop sought to identify actions that ensure the industry delivers high-quality products in line with the highest sustainability standards and receives appropriate value for its impact.

Given the critical role of the fisheries sector in the Maldivian economy—accounting for 6% of the national GDP, 11% of employment, and over 80% of export revenue—the sustainable tuna industry is essential for enhancing economic resilience, promoting food security, and ensuring social and environmental sustainability. The roadmap’s development focused on actions needed to secure financing and to sustainably grow the industry alongside lasting partnerships.

The workshop participants identified several key challenges, including limited coordination and dialogue among stakeholders, access to affordable financing, and access to both local and international markets. Specific issues included insufficient financial and risk management capacity, inadequate local financial products, high cost of capital due to perceived risks, and limited recognition of the sector's impact. Additionally, gaps in investment- and impact-readiness, fractured value chain integration, and limited technical expertise and resources were highlighted as barriers to market positioning and securing premium pricing for the tuna sector's impact-driven initiatives.

One of the key outcomes of the workshop was the agreement to establish a Tuna Think Tank Working Group. This well-resourced group, with clear terms of reference, will develop, coordinate, and implement actions. Focus areas include enabling conditions, finance and funding ecosystem, sustained market differentiation, and harvest sector professionalization. The group will drive the action plan, ensuring continuous engagement, priority alignment, and effective monitoring, evaluation, and reporting towards sustainability and investment goals.

To support this initiative, capacity-building support and training were deemed essential. Technical assistance will be provided to build capacity among tuna fishing and processing businesses through tailored training on investment readiness, sustainability, and operational best practices. Further support programs will enhance internal capacity for key value chain stakeholders, delivering specialized local and international expertise in new sustainable project design, business planning, and financial readiness.

This effort will contribute to the development of a pipeline for the ADB SME BlueImpact Asia, a blended finance platform providing access to blue SMEs leveraging catalytic funding, as the workshop identified a huge potential to invest in a more sustainable value chain. This financing requires mobilization of private sector financing which could be supported by financial intermediation loans. Such program can be scaled up and replicated in other countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Pacific.

The stakeholders are committed to continuing active collaboration to support the action plan. The goal is to create a sustainable roadmap for the Maldives tuna sector, ensuring the delivery of valued products that benefit fishers, processors, the Maldivian people, and customers worldwide, serving as a model for development throughout the region.