Sometimes development assistance can take one to paradise. Ali Soliman remembers fondly his mission to a remarkable island nation I was waiting in one of the dark corridors of the IMF in Washington, DC after a working lunch when I noticed the beautiful Maldivian 10 rupee note displayed along with currencies from other member states in a nicely lit case. The Maldives had just joined the IMF in 1978, and added its currency to the display. I observed the elegantly shaped vessel, the swaying coconut tree on the white beach, and the beautiful Arabic writing. All of these signs brought back many images and remembrances. My trip to the Maldives took more than 20 years. It was late in the 1950s that I read the chronicles of the formidable Arab voyager Ibn Batuta. This traveller, whose wanderings took him to most centres of culture and civilisation in Asia and Africa, Muslim Europe and China, the desert and bush, as well as the frosty steppes of Russia, also visited the Maldives. Ibn Batuta came to Male in the 14th century. He describes the people of Mahal El-Deeb as gentle, their islands as beautiful and their womenfolk as industrious, economical and devoted to their husbands. He had a good life here. He was appointed a judge and stayed for seven years. Thus it was strangely natural that a few months after reading this account of those exotic islands that I came to know my first Maldivian friends. It was one of those large Egyptian nights. We were sitting on the balcony of a friend's house, sipping good strong tea and nibbling very sweet cakes. Social chatter ascended to us from the street below. My friend introduced two alert and expressive young men. "We are from the Maldives, Mahal Deeb," they said. Of course Ibn Batuta made it sound very easy. First, you get to India, cross to "Serendeeb", then you take the first trading dhow and in no time you're there! Later, of course, I got to know more about the affairs of the country. I read with admiration the efforts of Mr Amin Didi to create a new and self-reliant society. I learnt of the efforts for independence, the rush for modernisation and the difficulties of defining a new society. When it was time for me to come to the Maldives, there was a new beginning for the country and new hopes. The country had just elected a new president -- a man of culture and high education, a graduate of Al-Azhar in Cairo, and a modernist. To help plan the difficult task of developing the country, he requested and received assistance from the UNDP. Given limited resources at the time, I was selected as the whole contingent of assistance seconded from the World Bank. In one and a half years in the Maldives, I had many different experiences. I would greatly admire the dignity of the common person and the cleanliness of the streets. I would lament the scarcity of vegetables and the risk of drinking water. I would learn how to get off a moving bicycle on the right (being the left) side. And I would know myself much better in long introspective sessions of silence by the sea. Also, after years of a busy but lonely life in America, I learned again how to enjoy and share my life with a large group of friends, in effect a large urban family. One reason for the success of my mission was the fact that I was not attached to any local group. It is easy to imagine that in a closed society where old feuds or friendships would go for generations, ideas were judged by who espoused them rather than their own merit. One high official noted wistfully, "but you get along with everybody!" As the concept of economic planning was new to the country, I organised training seminars and economic planning workshops for the heads of all government departments. The objective of these workshops was to discuss issues of development, to define sector priorities, and design programs to achieve them. Officials from different departments had the chance, almost for the first time, to trade experiences and to look beyond the confines of their own domains. Also they realised that development is a communal effort where efforts in one domain can sustain or detract from efforts in another. Another important mechanism that I suggested and which was readily adopted was to create a National Planning Council (NPC). It was headed by the president and included ministers related to economic and social development. This new forum allowed for an open and coordinated discussion of national and sector planning priorities and programs to achieve them. In the end, when sector-based "plans" were prepared they were approved by the NPC.
