State-owned builder overcomes pandemic roadblocks

Many Chinese professionals and managers weren't able to travel to the Maldives because of the pandemic, which also put pressure on the construction team to keep it from falling behind schedule, Li said.

An Zhenguo, a project engineer, said the company was proactive when faced with problems. "Instead of waiting in the office for the construction materials, we went to the Customs office to make sure that upon arrival of each container or air shipment, Customs officials would let us transport them to the construction site for use immediately.

"In the past, we had usually just waited for a shipment of goods to complete Customs clearance before going to get them."

Li's staff also employed strategies such as transshipping materials from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong before shipping them to the Maldives, and training more local workers in the Maldives in construction techniques. Through such efforts, problems were resolved and the project was delivered on time despite the challenges.

Ali Wajeeh, a Maldives resident who is also a manager at the project, spoke highly of the construction's speed and quality.

After seeing the impact that COVID was making, Wajeeh said he was worried about whether the project would be completed and delivered as scheduled. However, he said his worries disappeared once he saw how Li's team responded to problems.

"I was proud to be a manager of the affordable housing project and witness how professional and dedicated the Chinese construction workers were," Wajeeh said.

"I always believed that China would overcome the pandemic and that its economy would recover," he said.

China State Construction said its work in assisting the development of the Maldives, a country involved in the BRI, has once again shown that the company is an active participant in the initiative.

The company entered the Maldives market in 2016. Aside from the affordable housing project, it has also worked on bridges, channel dredging projects and office buildings.

Company officials said they had established good relations with many local companies, and their participation has boosted the development of local industries such as construction, materials and transportation, and the local labor market.